Between Two Worlds
by Artfuldemon
Summary: They say that if a butterfly flaps its wings just right, a hurricane can form on the other side of the planet. I don't know if what I'm doing will make that kind of difference, but I've been sitting on the sidelines to long to give up without even trying. Male OC Self-Insert.
1. Prologue

Prologue

 _Death is only the beginning.-Geoffrey Blackwood_

You know that feeling you get when you wake up form a really intense dream and your mind hasn't quite sorted out what's real and what was part of the dream? What happened to me was kind of like that. At first anyway.

One second I was cocooned in a comforting darkness that felt safe and secure, content to merely exist within my own little corner of the universe, and the next I was cold and terrified and had _absolutely no idea what was happening_.

More than just being frightened of the unknown sensations assaulting my senses, I was also terrified of the fact that I _couldn't move_. My arms were weak and didn't respond to my commands. My eyes were so blurry that even when I managed to open them I couldn't see anything. I was confused and afraid and did the only thing that seemed to be within my power to do: I started wailing for all I was worth.

I didn't connect the dots until much later that that what I had been experiencing was actually my _birth_ , that the giants standing around me speaking strange words and smiling down at me were actually my parents. As time went on I discovered that I had been given the name Ryusei Senju and had been born on August 29, two weeks later than expected but perfectly healthy, son of Hiroko Senju and Kaede Senju.

For lack of a better term, as near as I could tell, I had been reincarnated. Or at least I think I was. For all I know I'm lying comatose in some hospital right now, and everything I've seen and done up till this point has just been some fantasy my mind has cooked up.

And that's not even taking into account that I _remembered_ my previous life. I had been an ordinary guy on his way to his first year of college. At least that's the last thing I remembered. I hadn't done anything remarkably bad as far as I could tell, but then again I had never done anything remarkably good either. I was just… average. Even if I had been reincarnated and even if I _did_ remember my past, ultimately I'm not sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Given the choice I'd like to think that I took a wrong left turn on the way to the afterlife and ended up somewhere I didn't belong.

But for the first few months of my life none of that really mattered to me. What mattered was that I was trapped in the body of an infant and that didn't seem to changing anytime soon. After a few days when I began to realize that whatever was happening to me wasn't going to stop, and that I wouldn't wake up from whatever crazy dream I was in, it hit me that I wouldn't be able to go back to my old life.

It hadn't exactly been amazing, but it was everything I had ever known. My friends and family, my plans for the future, my _life_. It was all just… gone.

I don't think my parents ever really knew just how grateful I was for them in those first few months of my life. My entire world revolved around them, everything from sleeping and eating to my daily schedule, they dictated almost every action I took.

But above everything else I was most grateful for the comfort they provided whenever I needed it. As a newborn child the only real way I had to interact with the world was to cry whenever something bothered me. Which I did. Frequently. But my tears weren't normal tears.

My tears were for the life I left behind, a life that I would never get to see again.

If I had to choose a moment where I actually began to develop feelings for my new family than this would be the time I would think of. It's impossible to depend on someone, to look to them as such a constant source of love and comfort and not begin to love them back.

I was so certain what I was experiencing had to be a dream for one simple reason. Even if I couldn't figure out why I still remembered my previous life I could accept I had been reincarnated. The part I had difficulty accepting was that I had been reincarnated into the Naruto-verse.

It wasn't just that my parents- and oh my god, did it take a long time before I was comfortable actually thinking of them as my parents- spoke Japanese, or that they wore headbands with the Hidden Leaf symbol, or even the occasional glimpses I would get of the Hokage Mountain whenever my mother would take me out for a walk. All of those things could be faked, one way or another.

There were two specific things that finally convinced me that what I was seeing wasn't a dream. The first was my chakra, not that I was aware of what it was when I first felt the itch of forming chakra coils under my skin. But there was no denying that there was something strange and foreign, something that _didn't belong_ spreading throughout my entire body.

Trying to describe chakra is like trying to describe color to a blind person; there's no good way to do it. The first time I reached for it I hadn't been expecting it to actually do anything, still convinced that what I was seeing and experiencing couldn't be real. To my surprise not only did it respond but it responded _eagerly_ as though it had a mind of its own and wanted to be put to use. The feeling of using chakra is nearly indescribable. Just channeling it to different parts of my body left me feeling both drained and invigorated.

The second thing that made me realize what was happening to me was real was a bit more on than nose than chakra. Since my chakra was all internalized at this point and the effects of it were hardly noticeable I could write it off as my imagination.

But I couldn't do that with the attack of the Nine Tailed Fox.

I was just over a month old when the attack happened. Of course I had no idea what was happening at the time. I had barely figured out I was a child by that stage. But I remember the chakra. Filling the air, it was heavy and oppressive and the fact that I didn't know what was causing it just made it worse.

It weighed down on me to the point that I thought I would die just being in its presence. It was pervasive and terrifying and no matter how much I wanted to _I couldn't get away_. Time lost all meaning in the face of such raw _hatred_. The feeling had been so interwoven into the chakra, that I hadn't been able to distinguish one from the other.

When the feeling finally passed all I was aware of was someone, my mother in all likelihood, holding onto me for dear life, clearly terrified but keeping it together regardless, and whispering something into my ear that I couldn't understand, but helped to calm me down all the same.

Days later when I was taken out into the village for the first time since the attack, even with my weak infant eyes, I was able to see the destruction left behind from the attack and that's when I knew what I was seeing wasn't a dream, wasn't fake. Against all odds I had been reborn into a world that I hadn't believed existed.

 **AN: Well, here we are my second attempt at a Self-Insert. If you're a fan of this story go and check out either 'Dreaming of Sunshine' By Silver Queen or 'Catch Your Breathe' by Lang Noi. There both awesome and if you like this fic you'll love theirs.**

 **Update 10/21/15: I was never entirely happy with the prologue and after a reviewer brought it to my attention that the old one was fairly similar to the prologue of DoS I decided it was time for a rewrite.**


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: Still not entirely happy with this chapter but I could keep tweaking it for months and still not be satisfied. Also Ryusei got a slight name change for plot reasons. The prologue has been updated to reflect this.**

Chapter 1

 _The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us.-Ashley Montagu_

For days after my revelation about where I had been reborn I was almost catatonic. My body was just going through the motions while my brain seemed to have shut down on me. After my mind managed to reboot itself enough that I was able to start thinking rationally again I took a couple deep breaths and tried to think things through.

I was in the Naruto-verse. There, I said it, or at least thought it. Didn't make it any less unbelievable, but I had been here for over a year and if this was the Naruto-verse as I remembered it then I needed to stay calm and start figuring things out. Given that the Hokage Monument only had four faces on it I had a relatively solid idea where I was time wise. But just because I knew, more or less, when and where I was didn't mean that everything around me would match what I could remember.

They say that if a butterfly flaps its wings just right a hurricane could form on the other side of the world. By that same logic if there were things that didn't match my memories then who knew what else could be different. But even if everything was exactly as I remembered, my own presence aside, the Hidden Leaf Village wasn't exactly the best of locations to be reborn into. Even if you didn't count the invasions, or the upcoming war, there was still the fact that a large number of the population were trained killers.

This might have been one of the nicest Ninja Village's around but that didn't change the fact that it was a _Ninja Village_.

But then again I could have been born somewhere far worse. Like the Hidden Mist Village which was embroiled in a civil war at the moment, or the Hidden Sand Village which, simply by being in the middle of a desert, was a far worse place to live. And the Village Hidden in the Leaves was also filled with relatively nice people. Like any other large gathering of humans there were obviously outliers who were arrogant or cruel or enjoyed hurting others, but for the most part they were nice, companionable even. And there was very little discrimination. Outside of criminals, everyone was welcome so long as they obeyed the law.

Yes, there were _much_ worse places I could have been born.

As much as I wanted to start doing something, _anything_ , there really wasn't a whole lot I was able to do at the moment. I was just a child after all. Beyond making a few half thought out plans for the future all I could really do was live my life. I had no information at all. Beyond a vague estimate on when I was born I had no idea if the world around me matched the show or not. Without any further knowledge there was just no way of knowing if I could act on any of the information in my head. Which is why I was thrilled when my parents decided it was time I learned how to read.

It happened just before I turned two years old, after I had pretty much figured out how to speak Japanese. And reading Japanese was not easy. I have no real memory of learning how to read English, it had happened far too long ago, but I was certain that it had been far easier than this. The basics of the written language weren't so dissimilar to English, a series of characters that created certain sounds that, when used together, formed words. It was all just a matter of connecting certain shapes with certain sounds. But Kanji though, Kanji was _insane_. Each one meant something unique like moon or ocean. But depending on how they were used in conjunction with other Kanji and how they were placed in a sentence, their meanings could drastically change.

But regardless of the difficulty, I did eventually manage to learn enough to begin reading again which was a godsend. Even if the books were just children's books. I had loved reading in my previous life, to the point that I had even tried my hand at writing a few times. To be denied something that I used to take for granted was not a pleasant experience.

And even if the only books I could read were children's books that didn't stop me from reading as much as I possibly could. Starting out with simple picture books that were filled with more pictures than words, I quickly moved on to longer and more complex titles. By the time I turned three I was already reading at an Academy student's level.

My parents were thrilled.

In addition to reading for pleasure I also began doing research. I _needed_ to know if the world I was in matched the show or if it was just a world that had a few similarities. If this world did match the show than the knowledge I had could be of use.

I had thought learning the language was frustrating but this? This was an act in futility. History here, especially Shinobi history, was barely mentioned in any of the books I was reading. It probably had more to do with the secretive nature of Ninja than anything else. Odds are there were classified missions and events that would have filled in all the holes I was finding and, the spotty nature of my research material aside, what I did find was clearly written with propaganda in mind. More than likely if I went to any of the other Hidden Villages their own version of the same events would be very different.

It was a far cry from my old world where information is just a push of a button away.

Although in hindsight it made sense that I couldn't find anything. A kid, even a clan kid, didn't have the clearance to see anything classified and it wasn't like the level of books I had access to were filled with information. Most of the books I read even the history ones were meant for kids. They had simple easy to understand sentences listing the facts in a straightforward and almost boring fashion. But I persevered and in the end my research finally saw results. Bits and pieces of information gathered over a number of months allowed me to start drawing conclusions. Even if I didn't have all the facts I was able to balance what I remembered against what I was learning and enough matched that I was now certain, or as certain as I could be, that this _was_ the actual Naruto-verse.

And that led me to the problem of what I was going to do now.

If this was the Naruto-universe as I believed it to be, then I knew what was going to happen or at least I knew some of it. If I tried telling anyone what I knew then the inside of an ANBU interrogation cell was probably my best case scenario. Or maybe an insane asylum. After all if someone came up to you and said they remembered a previous life how would you react?

I did not want to find out.

Despite my failing memory of my old life, the show included, or perhaps because of it, I tried my hardest to remember the important events of my new life. I'd go out of my way to memorize birthdays and special events like anniversaries.

I was actually a little startled to discover that I _liked_ observing the world around me. As a toddler there really wasn't a lot I could do but to observe everything around me and being forced into it was certainly the reason I had begun my casual observations but it was not the reason I continued them. Once I had gotten old enough to start walking around and exploring things and I was no longer just sitting around staring at the same four walls all day, I still found myself observing the goings-on of… well, just about everything.

At the park I'd take note of what other kids were doing, from running around playing Ninja, which was basically tag, to collecting themselves into different groups of friends. I would note which ones were excluded and which were readily accepted and how often they would have arguments and who would usually win said arguments.

I'd make a note in the back of my head what stores people went into and how often I saw them going into them. I would even keep track of how often I saw people walk their dogs. Funnily enough on more than one occasion I would see a large group of dogs with their leashes all held by the same person, a Genin wearing a shiny new Forehead protector, who was literally being dragged along behind them. Or at least I was pretty sure it was a Genin, but then again would any other rank of Ninja accept a D-rank mission?

I never went out of my way to discover additional info on anyone even if something they did piqued my interest. If I saw someone doing something that didn't seem utterly mundane or boring I would make a note of it and move on. Nothing more nothing less. I'm not even sure myself why I was keeping track of things like this. After all it wasn't like I ever really did anything with any of the information I discovered through people watching. I just found it comforting to be able to know all of it at any given time.

I didn't like thinking about my own situation that much. I had been reincarnated into the body of a child and was forced to re-experience childhood over again. And I was _helpless_. For over a year I couldn't walk and could barely crawl. Even now, able to walk and run again to my heart's content I was still absolutely 100% helpless. I lived in a world where a large part of the population could kill me without even trying. If I got caught in the crossfire of a fight I could probably be killed without them even knowing I was there.

The information I was collecting in my head, largely useless though it was, was still something that was in my power to do. I could look at a passing Ninja and know without a doubt that I knew more about them than they knew about me.

It wasn't much but it helped.

Although I will admit that my habit of paying attention to the other kids did, in fact have a purpose beyond finding a way to alleviate the utter boredom I'd find myself experiencing on a daily basis. I payed attention to them so that I would know how to act to make everyone else think I was just another kid if they saw me. What should I be learning, how much progress should I be showing in X subject? The other kids were what I measured my own rate of growth by.

One unexpected thing did unintentionally come from my habit of observing people, although I'm not sure if it was a positive or negative thing. I never really made any other friends my age. I wasn't purposefully excluded from anything and they asked me to play Ninja with them on occasion but I was never really accepted either. I was always hanging back, watching, and getting a little stressed out over acting my age. Which seems strange but I actually was _acting_ and it's hard to continually act out a role when you can never take a break. But it was something I needed to do. I did not want to be labeled a prodigy _at all_. I was advanced for my age because of my adult mind but that didn't change the fact that I was just as clueless about the inner working of this world as the next kid.

When I turned four my training started. My training to be a Ninja that is. At first I was a little surprised by this because my father had originally said that my training wouldn't begin until I started out at the Academy, which wasn't for another year but it was fairly easy to guess what had caused the sudden change in plans.

A few weeks prior to the start of my training a representative from Hidden Cloud Village had arrived to sign a peace treaty between our two Villages, marking the beginning of the end of the Third Great Shinobi War. The Signing had gone off without a hitch but after dark the representative had kidnapped the Hyuga heiress and tried to escape the village. Although he was unwilling to tell me the details my father did let me know that the heiress had been recovered and that the peace treaty was still in effect. Although the Cloud Ninja had been had been stopped the price for continued peace was high and the result left heightened tensions between the Hyuga Clan and the rest of the Village.

Even without the details I was still able to piece together what had really happened from what I could remember. That had been the day that Hinata had been kidnapped and Neji's father had been sacrificed for the sake of peace and to protect the main branch of the Hyuga Clan, a defining point for both of their lives.

As sad as the whole affair was, an infuriating side note was that I _still_ didn't know precisely when I was, timeline wise. Both the official date of the Hyuga Affair and Hinata's age before her graduation had never been disclosed in the show so I had no way of knowing if she was younger or older than I was at the moment. All this really confirmed was that I was indeed born in the same general time as the show.

But still some progress was better than no progress.

Taking all that into account and it was easy to see why my training had begun early. He wanted to make sure nothing like that would happen to me. I was the first born son of the head of the clan after all. Or at least the acting clan leader in Tsunade's absence. No one had made a big deal out of it because the Senju Clan had fallen far in recent years. We were still a well-respected clan but between the losses from the Second and Third Great Shinobi War's and the attack of the Nine Tailed Fox we were a shadow of our former selves.

That's actually why my mother gave me the name Ryusei. The name Ryusei means holy and prosperous. She wanted me to become a strong Ninja that would uphold our clan's ideals and help restore us to our former strength. I am forever thankful that she gave me the name Ryusei, but for a different reason. Ryusei actually has a second meaning.

Reborn.

To this very day I still believe, just as I have always believed ever since I first learned what my name means, that there is no more perfect name for me in all of creation.

To be perfectly honest I was of two minds about my training. On the one hand, I didn't want to disrupt the future or risk making it worse. On the other hand I knew what was going to happen or at least I knew a version of things that were going to happen so I might be able to make things better.

I remembered the big things anyway. The invasion of Orochimaru and the Sound and Sand Villages. Pains attack on the village. The Fourth Shinobi World War. There were a bunch of other smaller conflicts and events that happened, but too much time had gone by for me to clearly remember them. For all I know my own existence was already changing things in small subtle ways that I couldn't notice.

The question I ultimately had to ask myself was 'Is it worth the Risk?'

But even if my presence was just as disruptive as I was afraid off, I wasn't going to change anyone's plans or ideals. Orochimaru was still going to be stealing bodies and planning to get the Sharingan. Akatsuki was still going to collect the tailed beasts. Madara was still going to try and complete his plans. Whether or not I tried to keep my head down and play it safe or tried to actively change things for the better these things were going to remain the same. Having one more person in the village wasn't going to be changing anyone's plans, for good or bad.

My memory had been sketchy on the subject for a long time but I did remember the overall plot of the show and things weren't _terrible_. Yeah they could be better but I wasn't arrogant enough to think my presence alone was going to be enough to turn the tide. In a large scale battle there was no one person who could suddenly take to the field and suddenly end the battle in their favor.

Well okay, that's a bit of a lie. Minato Namikaze had been able to and the Hokage probably could. The Sanin and a handful of other people off the top of my head as well but that was a gamble of long odds to say the least.

If I assumed that I was the same age as the Rookie 9, and until I had some proof to back that theory up it was one hell of an assumption, then I had until I was 15 before Akatsuki started moving and only until I was 12 before Orochimaru's Invasion. Maybe even less time than that.

Could I get that strong, that fast? Was it even possible to get anywhere _close_ to that strong in such a short amount of time? Naruto and Sasuke had managed it but they both had advantages that had enabled those rapid leaps and bounds in strength. Naruto was the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox and Sasuke had the Sharingan and that was just as a start. They both had developed techniques and abilities far beyond anyone else of their age group. Hell, there were Ninja decades older than them, Ninjas who had become Jonin, who weren't as strong as those two.

Without anything to give me a boost, could I become anywhere near as strong as them? Because if I wanted a hope in hell of matching that kind of strength I was going to need every advantage I could get my hands on.

But all of that was years in the future. Whatever I decided, whether it was to let events run their course or to actively start changing things and trying to make them better, I still had to contend with my father's training routine. Because, one way or the other, I was going to become a Ninja. Although they weren't my first family I had grown to love them just as much, if not more so than my old one, now that I knew what the pain of losing a family felt like. I wanted them to be happy and healthy and to grow old and retire to live out their golden years together, something that hardly any Ninja got to do.

I wanted to be able to protect my family instead of always being the one protected.

Day one of my training I received a new article of clothing. Gone were my old civilian shoes, which were still perfectly usable but I was told they wouldn't hold up during training, and I was giving a pair of blue open toed Ninja sandals. After trying them on it was clear why almost every Ninja opted to wear some variation of them. They were comfortable, almost formfitting really, with deep grooves along the soles that were perfect for finding purchase on almost any surface. The only other major change to my wardrobe, if you can call it a change since I wasn't allowed to leave the house with it, unless I was under my father's supervision, was a kunai pouch. It only contained Kunai and Shuriken with blunted edges that were useless for fighting or even practicing, but my Dad wanted me to get used to wearing it.

The training itself, I'm a little disappointed to say, was rather dull. I hadn't expected to be learning a Jutsu on day one but I had expected a little something more than just _exercising_. Sit ups, pushups, running, Jumping Jacks and more besides that I didn't even know the name for. For over an hour that was all we did. We probably would have gone on longer except we reached a point where I could no longer move. Between one pushup and the next my body suddenly refused to move. It was so bad that my Dad actually ended up carrying me inside.

Although it didn't change the fact that, when he said that he had gone easy on me today and tomorrow would be worse, I still felt like throwing him out a window.

In retrospect I should have expected it. Before you can learn any advanced, or even any beginner techniques you need a solid base to work off of. Strength, speed and stamina were all important factors that needed to be taken into account. Because my adult mind had enabled me to overcome the mental side of things so well, I guess I was expecting something similar with the physical side. But that was a dumb expectation. Even if I could learn the proper way to perform the exercises after only being shown once, that didn't change the fact that I was still human. My body still needed time to develop, to grow stronger, my chakra needed time to expand beyond what was necessary to keep me alive, and my muscles needed to grow strong enough that my body could withstand the life of a Ninja.

And speaking of chakra, now that my training was starting, I decided to try experimenting with my chakra. Or experimenting with it outside of my body at least. I had been practicing with it internally every chance I could get and grown adept at moving it the way I wanted, to whichever part of the body I wanted and I wanted to try doing other things with it know that I had the chance. I didn't dare try the wall walking exercise because not only would it have been way to suspicious but if I couldn't maintain the technique then I would fall after just a few steps and I had to remind myself that I was just a four year old. If I fell any significant distance at this age I would probably break more than a few bones. A child's body is not very durable despite the fact that all kids think there invincible.

But there were other things I could try. Technically speaking anything that involved chakra was considered a control exercise. The opposite half of wall walking, sticking something to yourself as opposed sticking yourself to something was a basic one. Chakra strings were a less commonly used one because puppet masters were the only ones who used the technique in combat but it was still an excellent way to perfect your control of chakra outside the body.

Between my daily training, both my physical training with my Dad and my own personal training to master my chakra, I spent many an afternoon and evening simply lying around and sleeping. My mother used to joke that the hospital had messed up and accidentally swapped her son out with a Nara.

And so things continued this way for the rest of the year. My body slowly became more conditioned and I was able to exercise for longer periods of time, and my chakra control was coming along as well, although not nearly as fast as my physical training was going, on account of not wanting to risk asking for help. But it was advancing slowly but surely. And it wasn't like I was in any rush. I still didn't know what my decision regarding the future would ultimately be, but I was still a child. I had time to make that decision. And besides I had a much more immediate matter to attend to at the moment.

My entrance into the Academy, or plainly speaking, my first day of school had arrived. The last year of my life had flown by; my fifth birthday had come and gone so fast I almost didn't even notice it. My parents weren't nervous at all. My Dad had begun my training early and was positive that I'd be able to handle anything the Taijutsu classes could throw at me and I knew that I had been reading at a fairly advanced level for my age for a while so I wasn't worried about being behind academically. It was just the thought of having to interact with so many new people, kids at that, which set me on edge.

This wasn't like before when I'd be able to hang back and just observe. Now I was, not only, going to be expected to try and make friends, but also to learn to fight next to them, to trust them with watching my back. We were just kids now and would remain so for years, but sooner or later it was something that I would need to grow comfortable with.

My parents had never really mentioned my rather antisocial tendencies before now because I was a, more or less, normal kid as far as they were concerned, but they had let slip a few things in conversations a few times in the past. Nothing to on the nose but my mother had asked more than once about who I was playing with whenever I went out to the park or my dad would comment that I'd never invited anyone over but by and large they let things be.

I knew what I was signing up for when I began to train, that I would eventually go to the Academy and that I would eventually graduate and be placed on a team, but still, social interactions as a whole are something I'd rather avoid. Or at least social interactions with kids was something I'd rather avoid as long as possible for one very important reason. They were _kids_. They run around laughing and crying for no reason and asked questions like why the sky is blue, or why cats and dogs don't get along. How was I supposed to relate to that? In a few years once they matured a bit then sure, but for now I'd rather avoid them.

But if I wanted to become a Ninja, it was something that I would have to deal with and since today was the first day of school, I wasn't able to put it off any longer. My mother packed me a lunch and both my parents walked me to the entrance. After double checking that I had everything I needed and that I would be fine on my own my mother gave me a kiss on the check, and my father wished me luck, and I was on my way to the entrance ceremony.

The entrance ceremony was more interesting than I thought it was going to be. What had to be the entire staff had gathered to either watch or participate and there were even some older students and parents in the back, my own family included.

It started out simple, with a number of teachers talking about rules and the kind of behavior that was expected of future Shinobi. After they finished saying their piece the Third Hokage took the stand. He talked at length about the Will of Fire and what it really meant to be a Shinobi. All in all it was probably inspiring and overall quite nice. I say probably because I didn't actually pay attention during the ceremony. Instead my attention was focused on the other first year students attending the ceremony with me. The reason why they had my almost undivided attention? Simple. I _recognized_ them.

I was in the same class as the Rookie 9. _Well then,_ I thought. _That's one mystery solved_.

 **AN: something I've unintentionally discovered is that these first few chapters are a pain in the ass to write. They are both the most and least important chapters in the story. Most important because these are the chapters that everyone will read first, that will draw them into the greater story. And least important because the story elements pass by so fast. From one paragraph to the next** _ **years**_ **could have gone by and it's both difficult and a little bit boring to write like this.**

 **One of the reasons I took so long is because I've been writing chapters that take place post-graduation instead of focusing on this one so, at the very least once I get through these next few chapters the updates should start coming more frequently.**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 _If you live long enough, you'll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you'll be a better person. It's how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit.-William J. Clinton_

After the entrance ceremony was over, we were directed to the far wall where the various Chunin who would be our new Sensei's were waiting for us. One by one they called out names and led their new students away, until one I recognized stepped forward. Iruka looked younger than I expected, not quite as comfortable in the Chunin vest as the other teachers. He must have been promoted to Chunin relatively recently.

I really wish I could say I was surprised when he called out my name but I was half expecting it. I had known it was a possibility that I was the same age as the characters from the show, but I had been avoiding thinking about it in the hopes that my luck would hold out and I would be either younger or older than them.

I had been dearly hoping that I wouldn't wind up in the same year as the Rookie 9, both because I was still unsure whether or not I should act on my future knowledge, and because regardless of that decision I had every intention of becoming a Ninja. Now if I wanted to become one I would either have to graduate early, something that I wasn't _entirely_ opposed to, or kick one of the rookies to the curb and take there place.

The only thing is if I graduated early I would have more expectations placed on me which was both a good and a bad thing. My goals at this point were basically 'protect my family' and 'don't die'. If I were in a stronger and more advanced position within the village then that would make protecting my family easier but would also expose me to far more danger than I would be otherwise. I wasn't scared per se, just wary. I had already died once and was in no hurry to do so again.

I opted to put this decision on the backburner for now because of one simple fact. Even if I did graduate early there wasn't a guarantee that I _wouldn't_ be placed on a team when my year group graduated anyways. Kakashi had been apprenticed to Minato and had been promoted to Chunin before his age group graduated and he had still been placed on a Genin team after all. Before I made a decision of any kind I needed more information.

Joining me alongside Iruka, in addition to a bunch of other kids I didn't recognize, were Kiba, Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata. If Iruka hadn't been calling them out one by one I probably wouldn't have recognized any of them besides Naruto and Sasuke and the only way I recognized them was by appearance. Kiba was being rather quiet, but with the way he kept glancing into the crowd I assumed he had someone threatening bodily harm if he misbehaved and Hinata looked as though she was trying to disappear, what with the way she was hunched over and kept her eyes on the floor.

My memory was fading a little more every day but I knew for a fact that the way Naruto and Sasuke were acting right now was not the way they would stay, not if what I _could_ remember was any indication. Naruto had tried to say hello to a few different people when he arrived but had been given the cold shoulder by all of them. There was still an air of excitement about him but his eyes looked closed off and he was far quieter than I would have believed possible if I wasn't seeing it with my own two eyes.

Sasuke on the other hand… was acting friendly. There was no other way to say it. He was smiling and quietly chatting with just about everyone and I don't think I've ever seen a happier kid before that moment.

Iruka gestured to everyone whose name he had called, me included and said "okay everyone, quiet down and follow me to your classroom and, please, don't wander off." We diligently formed a lose line after that and quietly followed after him, although it looked like one or two of my classmates, namely Kiba and Naruto, wanted to try and run off on their own.

As we left the auditorium I took a glance around the room and was surprised to see just how many other kids were entering the Academy. There were dozens, far more than I could remember there being. But then again, I suppose it made sense in a way. There was no way that the ranks of Shinobi were only replenished by three new teams every year or they would run out of able bodied Ninja far faster than they could replace them.

Iruka led us to a classroom that looked an awful lot like the classroom I would have expected from college had I survived to attend. Large and open, with staggered rows of benches each higher than the one in front of it, with large windows that let the light in and several educational posters hanging on the wall that tried to bring a bit of color to an otherwise bland environment. The front of the room was dominated by a large blackboard, and a teacher's desk off to the side.

Bypassing the students who were trying to sit at the front of the classroom, I decided to sit in the highest row of benches at the back of the classroom, next to a window. And while I chose that seat partially for the view, to give me something more interesting to stare at than the blackboard, I did have a bit of an ulterior motive. In my old world sitting at the back of a classroom usually meant you weren't interested in whatever was being taught, but here sitting with your back to a wall meant that there was no one behind you, a mark of a _good_ Ninja.

It's strange how easily a different perspective can change the way you think.

Once everyone else got settled in, Iruka began by introducing his fellow teacher, someone named Mizuki who looked familiar but whose face I couldn't remember, along with instructions about how they were both to be addressed as Sensei from then on.

After that we had to stand up and give individual introductions and after that name tags were handed out to help us learn each other's names. And after that came familiarizing ourselves with our schedules so we would know where we were supposed to be at any given time. And then textbooks were handed out and we were given explicit instructions on how we were to try our hardest not to damage them.

They also went over a _long_ list of rules and regulations that we would be expected to follow, along with a list of punishments that would be meted out if any of the rules were broken. I actually found it a little bit funny that they were using scare tactics on five year olds

All perfectly normal things that I had had to do at one point or another at almost every school I'd ever been to. It kinda destroyed the wonder at being in a school for Ninja's once you realized that it was still _school_.

A few students were paying diligent attention, although there were more than a few, myself included, who were just zoning out, paying just enough attention that we knew what was going on. A few others you could tell were getting bored and restless and looked as though they were ready to try and start causing some trouble.

Thankfully before anything could happen the bell that signaled the start of lunch went off.

"Alright everyone" Iruka-sensei (I had to remind myself to start calling him that) called out over the sudden increase in noise. "You've got one hour for lunch. And if anyone's late you'll receive detention and I'll be more than happy to explain to your parents why you got held back on the first day."

I'm pretty sure I saw Kiba shiver out of the corner of my eye at Iruka-sensei's subtle threat.

Grabbing my lunch I wandered outside into the Academy grounds and starting looking for a place to eat. Only last year students were allowed to leave the Academy grounds unsupervised, so I found an empty spot next to the main field where I could eat my lunch in peace.

I was just about to open the bento box that my Mom had made for me when I felt someone watching me. I looked left and right for a moment before I spotted them. It was Naruto, standing on the other side of the Academy grounds with a strange look on his face, and looking as though he wanted to come over and say something. But before he could I heard a voice above me.

"Hey I noticed you sitting by yourself over here. Wanna come and have lunch with us?" I looked away from Naruto and turned towards the voice and was surprised to see that it belonged to Sasuke. He had his lunch in one hand and was indicating a spot a little further along the wall in the shade underneath a tree, where a group of other students were sitting.

I turned back towards where Naruto had been only to not see him anywhere. I shrugged a little and pushed the incident from my mind. If he had something he wanted to say to me then it wasn't like I was going anywhere after all. He'd be able to find me later.

Turning back to Sasuke, I shrugged and said "Sure." I grabbed his offered hand and let him pull me into a standing position.

He quickly led me toward the group of fellow students who he had found himself and sat down next to a boy I didn't recognize. I felt a little awkward just standing there but, kids or not, this was the first real social situation I had been in for years. I was a little unsure what I was supposed to be doing.

After a few seconds Sasuke looked up at me with a grin on his face. "You're free to sit down if you want, we don't bite."

It was a lame joke by most standards but kids must be easier to entertain because, while it didn't make anyone burst out into laughter, there was definitely some snickering from the rest of the group. I sat down next to him quickly, my cheeks slightly red from embarrassment. Hopefully no one would notice.

Placing his own Bento box on his lap he opened his own lunch without looking at it and asked "You're names Ryusei, right?"

Without waiting for me to give a response he just went right on ahead talking. "My names Sasuke, by the way, just in case you didn't remember."

I tried to reply that I did remember, but he cut me off again before the first word could leave my mouth. "What did your Mom pack you for lunch?"

Tired of being constantly interrupted I gave him a deadpan stare and said, in as serious a voice as I could muster "Food."

Rather than have the intended effect he just smiled at me and said "I know _that_. I meant what _kind_ of food?"

I sighed in defeat and opted to just show him my lunch.

He took one look at it before nodding and switched gears to a different topic. "What do you think of Iruka-sensei?"

He was a whirlwind of questions and answers after that, hardly requiring me to speak at all, seemingly capable of holding both sides of our conversation. He actually seemed to _like_ being the center of attention. I don't think I said more than three words that entire meal. By the time our lunch period was over I was surprised that he had been able to finish his own food, what with the way he had been talking.

After lunch we had Taijutsu Class, which is a fancy way of saying gym class. And while I wasn't dreading it, after almost a year training with my Dad I had learned what to expect and, consequently wasn't looking forward to it either. But the fact of the matter was that even if I never ended up specializing in Taijutsu, being a Ninja involved a lot of running and jumping around. So I would have to just suck it up and keep right on training, both here and at home.

Especially since, in a world without cars or plane's, running was the way most Ninja got around.

In addition to the exercises I was expecting, like the aforementioned running, there was also stretching, and pull ups, sit-ups and push-ups, and even slalom races and an obstacle course. There were also jump ropes and relays and games of catch. We weren't allowed Shuriken or Kunai yet, not even blunted ones but we were practicing throwing and catching all the same.

And I was average in all of them, save the games of catch, which were more about hand-eye coordination than strength or stamina. I wasn't doing poorly but on the other hand I wasn't doing spectacularly either.

I was actually more than a little disappointed in my performance here. I hadn't been expecting to be leaving everyone in the dust but I had been expecting that I would be somewhere near the top. A small part of me had even thought I might need to hold back a little bit because I didn't want to be at the very top of the class. I didn't need or want that kind of attention, not unless I decided to try and graduate early.

The reality of the situation, however, was very different.

Training under my Dad had taught me that it wasn't all going to be a walk in the park, but he had started that training almost a year early. To discover that I was just average after that long left me feeling a little disappointed in myself.

It's one thing to know, intellectually that being a Ninja was going to be hard work, it's another thing entirely to know that your just average and that there's still _years_ of work left to go before you even get to the real training.

Other than the occasional sports day at school I had never had to work so hard at just being physically fit as I did right now. I had never been overweight or out of shape, but I knew I had been far from perfect. I had been smart enough to coast through most things on brainpower alone. Being strong or fast hadn't mattered that much before now.

And even though it was tempting to give up and just let things run their course, something inside me refused to let me back down from this.

I had died young, even by the standards of Ninja, but enough time had gone by that I more or less knew what I was going to be doing with my life. High school was over and college had loomed on the horizon and after that a career and maybe a family if I was lucky. A nice safe quiet life. The kind of life that a mere decade before I could never have imagined myself living. As a child I had wanted… I'm not even sure _what_ I wanted back then. I only knew that it was _more_ than where I was heading as an adult.

Fame, glory, greatness beyond my station. Maybe part of the reason I wanted to become a Ninja was because I thought I might be able to achieve those childhood fantasies this time around.

In a way I guess this was a good thing. My adult mind may have given me some advantages early on but it was clear that I wasn't a budding genius and a reminder that I wasn't all knowing and all powerful would help to keep me grounded.

After Taijutsu class was over Iruka-sensei dismissed us, looking more than a little relieved himself. Taking that into account, along with his younger appearance, I had to wonder if this was his first year teaching. Because while he certainly looked happy here, he also looked stressed and it felt as though he wasn't quite as experienced with large groups of kids as the other teachers were.

I glanced around the Academy entrance looking for my parents, thankful that they stood out in a crowd. My dad had a pale complexion that wasn't helped by almost snow white hair that he kept so short I was tempted to call it a military cut. Between that and his dark red eyes I believed his claims when he said he could trace our family tree all the way back to Tobirama. Compared to my dad's neat and orderly style my Mom was almost the exact opposite. She was a few inches shorter than my Dad, with bronze skin and wavy black hair. She also had bright blue eyes, the same color as my own, and lips that always seemed to be on the verge of a smile.

Just as I spotted them I felt a tug on my shirt sleeve and turned towards a smiling Sasuke. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, okay Ryu?"

I was almost as surprised by the fact that he had singled me out to talk to as I was the nickname and, unable to think up a proper response, I just started nodding.

He brightened at my response and with a quick 'see you tomorrow' he ran off in the direction of his own parents. Or parent as the case may be, because only an older woman who I assumed was his mother was there to greet him.

My eyes followed him for a few moments before I turned back to my own smiling parents. When I walked up to them my Dad quickly scooped me up in his arms and swung me up on his shoulders with a grin. As we waked home my parents asked me a bunch of different questions, ranging from what I had thought of my first day to if I like my teachers.

Shortly before we reached our house my Mom turned towards me, a smile on her face. "So, did you make any friends?"

The way she sounded so eager made me think that this was a question she wanted to ask the moment she had seen me leave the Academy, and had been holding back so she wouldn't put me on the spot in front of any other kids. I mulled it over for a few moments before answering her. On one hand it had only been a day and I was still uncomfortable around my 'peers'. But on the other hand… I turned to face her, sporting a smile of my own. "Yeah, I did. His names Sasuke"

I found out the next day that, much to my surprise, Sasuke became attached quite quickly. Case in point, we had known each other less than a day and he already wasn't using my full name, and instead had opted for 'Ryu' as being close enough.

Every time I tried to sit by myself at lunch or when I would rather lay around and read or cloud watch, he would always show up and drag me into his circle of friends, whether it was to just hang out and talk for a while or to play Ninja (or as I called it; Tag). Unbelievably he was able to coerce me into acting my age, into _playing_ far more easily than I'd have preferred otherwise. As much as I would have rather kept my distance from someone so intertwined into the plot I had to reluctantly admit that Sasuke was fast becoming one of my closest friends.

This quickly spilled into my free time after school as well. Almost a year after we had first started the Academy Sasuke invited me over to his house one day after school had ended. My parents were within earshot and had agreed on my behalf before I was able to get over my shock.

But then again, the fact that I was shocked _at all_ about something as simple as being invited over to a friend's house was cause for concern. Maybe my parents' worries about my social life, or lack thereof weren't _entirely_ unfounded.

He chatted a mile a minute as we made our way towards his house, which was located in the Uchiha district on the outskirts of the village. As we entered the Uchiha district I spotted two men wearing the uniform of the Hidden Leaf Police Force on either side of the gate, both of whom waved to Sasuke as we passed by but glared at me out of the corner of their eyes.

I guess maybe strangers weren't really welcome within the district? Or maybe they were just having a bad day and wanted to glare at somebody. Either way I had no way of knowing what had put them in a bad mood so I opted to forget about them for the time being.

As we approached what had to be Sasuke's house he suddenly got excited and ran forward. Seeing no reason to rush I continued at a more sedate pace. A few moments later when I caught up to Sasuke I saw the reason for his excitement. He had jumped up and was hugging someone with a small smile on his face, who could only be Itachi.

My thoughts were confirmed a few seconds later when Sasuke dropped back to the ground and turned towards me, introducing the older boy. "This is my big brother, Itachi."

I mumbled a quiet hello, but aside from that I wasn't able to say anything. Thankfully Sasuke was relatively familiar with my antisocial tendencies by now and picked up the conversation after it became clear I wasn't going to be doing any talking in the near future.

The real reason I wasn't saying anything was because I _couldn't_. Not right at that moment anyway. It hurt to admit this but, truth be told, Itachi scared me a little. I knew how far he was willing to go, what he was willing to sacrifice to protect his brother and his Village. What would he do if he knew even a fraction of what I knew?

A minute or two later, Itachi said he had to go, and after poking Sasuke's forehead, an act that Sasuke _said_ annoyed him but the smile on his face proved otherwise, he nodded to me politely and was off.

After Itachi left and my heart stopped pounding in my ears I was able to pull it together enough to offer a polite greeting to Sasuke's parents, who were the next members of his family I was introduced to. His father acted stern and polite, but I got the distinct impression that he would rather be doing something other than being introduced to his son's friend. Sasuke's mother, on the other hand acted open and pleasant and even offered to bring us a snack later on.

That day was the first and only time I saw Itachi during my childhood. Even on the occasions after that where I visited Sasuke or when he came over to visit me I never saw him again after that day. I asked Sasuke about it but all he knew that was that even he was seeing less and less of Itachi lately. Apparently he was doing some really important missions for the clan and had accepted some 'super-secret job' from the Hokage.

My blood ran cold after he told me that. I _knew_ what Sasuke was talking about even if he didn't. Itachi had been officially accepted into the ANBU black ops. And that realization brought something else to mind something that I had been ignoring up till now.

The more I spent time hanging out with Sasuke, the more I became aware of a desire that I had been trying to bury ever since I had first learned just where I had been reborn. A desire that had become harder to ignore the more time I spent with him. I wanted to prevent the Uchiha massacre.

I had originally been intending to let it happen, because as much as it pained me to knowingly let another person die, if they weren't stopped than the coup they were planning would not only lead to the deaths of many members of the Leaf Village, but could also escalate into another Great Shinobi War.

But as much as it made sense to a rational part of my mind, that there was no good option and that letting the massacre happen was the lesser of two evils, I couldn't stop another part of my mind from trying its hardest to think up a way to stop it from happening.

I had already figured out that it would be impossible for me to just walk up and tell someone. Not only would they probably not believe me but how would they react after what I had told them actually happened? Or worse even if I tried to tell someone who could help, like the Hokage, what would happen if someone like Danzo found out about what I knew? With what he was capable of, all in the name of protecting the Village, I shuddered to think what he would do with the information in my head.

I didn't trust my skills with codes or ciphers anywhere near enough to try and send a secret message and even if I did I knew I didn't have the skill to ensure that the right people would be the ones to receive it.

My window of opportunity was closing and I was quickly running out of ideas of things to try. I wanted to try and help keep my friends family alive, but even though I racked my brains for an answer that wouldn't put me and maybe even my family in danger, I couldn't think of a solution on my own and to make things even harder I wasn't able to go to anyone for help.

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years and before I knew it, I was too late. A few weeks after Sasuke's eighth birthday and a few weeks before my own, the Uchiha Clan laid broken, one of its two remaining members under ANBU protection and the other branded a traitor.

I tried to tell myself that there was nothing I could have done, that I tried my hardest to think up something that would save my friends clan, his _family_ without damning my own but I hadn't been able to, might never have been able to even with a hundred years of planning.

But as much as I hated to admit it, it was all just empty words. If I had been willing to risk going to the Hokage and tell him what I knew, if I had been willing to make the sacrifice myself than maybe this would never have happened.

A month later when Sasuke made his first appearance in class since the massacre, he was wild eyed and sullen, snapping at anyone who tried to approach him, me included. When I saw what he was like, more than anything I wish I could have stopped the massacre for his sake. Because even though he had spared Sasuke's life, Itachi had still killed his brother that night.

But the thing is Sasuke wasn't the only one in pain. Only a handful of people knew the truth about the Uchiha and why they needed to be stopped. Everyone else simply knew that they had lost friends and comrades, people who they cared about and who in turn had cared for them. It was almost as if the entire village was in mourning.

And I was in mourning right along with them. I couldn't say I was ever really close to any of the other Uchiha, not even Sasuke's parents who I had met a handful of times, but that didn't change the fact that I _knew_ what was going to happen. I knew and didn't do anything about it. That thought alone sent me into a spiral of depression so bad that at one point my parents considered seeking professional help.

But even in the deepest darkness a light can be found.

For the first time in years I finally understood something. More than just trying to survive, more than just protecting my family I wanted to be able to help. Not just my friends or my family, not even the Hidden Leaf Village, I wanted to help the Shinobi World as a whole.

I wanted to change the future. I knew what was going to happen, and I just might be able to make it better. Never again would I let risk stop me from trying to help. Maybe I wouldn't always make things better, maybe I could end up making them worse… but if I didn't do anything than I would be condemning the world to needless suffering through inaction.

I had failed my best friend. I would not fail anyone else.


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: And so here we are. Another chapter down and that much closer to finishing up the intro chapters and getting to the real heart of the story.**

Chapter 3

 _Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward towards finding the answer.-Denis Waitley_

Time marched on regardless of the turmoil in the village and summer slowly changed into winter. Or rather the dry season changed to rainy season since the Land of Fire didn't really have winter. It was possible that we could get snow for a few days or even weeks if it got cold enough but that had only happened once that I could remember. And along with the changing seasons also came changes in both my class as a whole, and among my classmates individually. Or maybe I was just noticing them for the first time. The Uchiha massacre and my actions leading up to it, or rather my _inaction_ leading up to it had opened my eyes, in a sense.

Up until now I had had a very narrow view of the world around me. Beyond my immediate friends and family I had no plans for the rest of the world or even for anyone else in the Village, not to mention a large part of me had been held back by not wanting to disrupt the plot, but now? Now disrupting the plot was exactly what I was hoping to do. I still wasn't sure if I would be able to affect anything but I refused to be just a bystander ever again.

I was going to make things better or die trying.

As the days went on my class grew smaller and smaller, some of the students who hadn't been able to keep up were transferred out and new students from other classes were transferred in. That also meant that more and more of the Rookie 9 joined my class. Sakura, Ino, and Shino joined those already present making for a total of seven out of nine.

Despite my expectations, Sakura and Ino still seemed to be best friends. This was a little surprising, because if I could recall correctly their friendship was supposed to break apart because of their mutual crush on Sasuke. But then again it wasn't like I spent a lot of time contemplating the thought process of love struck girls, so maybe I just wasn't very good at picking out the signs of their supposed 'rivalry'.

The biggest changes among my classmates where by and large, centered on Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto was quickly becoming the class goofball that I remembered him being. At first he had been a little more serious and hadn't acted out as much, but as time went on he gravitated more and more towards being loud and obnoxious, often disrupting class or skipping it altogether to go and pull some sort of prank.

Things came to a head one day when Naruto didn't show up for class at all. He was more than happy to skip classes like history or math that he had dubbed boring and unnecessary almost immediately but he had always shown up for the practical classes like Taijutsu. For a few days I was actually worried that I had somehow inadvertently changed something for the worse, but relaxed a few days later when he returned, a new sense of… something around him. Not determination, not exactly. More like acceptance? It was like he had finally decided just what he was going to do and how he was going to do it.

And from that day forward Naruto was _almost_ a model student. He still tended to fall asleep during classes he didn't like and he wasn't averse to skipping class or pulling pranks if he was in the mood, but by and large he showed up to every class and put forth his best effort in every one of them.

And I also noticed the lack of Hibachi, a student who had gone out of his way to exclude Naruto from games and such, was gone from the class after that day. He had been almost the textbook definition of bully, good at riling up a crowd and unafraid of getting physical, providing his targets were weaker than he was, and I wasn't sorry to see him go. I was curious, but not curious enough to start digging around for information. After all students dropped out or transferred all the time. Hibachi's disappearance just seemed strange to me.

Unlike Naruto, Sasuke actually seemed to mellow out as the months went by. At the very least he wasn't constantly angry anymore, but on the flipside, he also didn't really speak to anyone. He attended class and tolerated the other students, but didn't go out of his way to connect with them. In addition to his newly adopted loner tendencies, he was also quick to rise to the top of the class standings. The practical standings anyways. He was still somewhere around the upper-middle of the pack academically speaking but he seemed content with that. Or at the very least he wasn't complaining about it, but then again with his new 'less is more' motto for talking with others maybe he just didn't say anything on principle.

Something I would have loved to bug Sasuke about if our friendship wasn't so rocky at the moment, was that the change in his personality had actually _multiplied_ the number of fan girls that he had to avoid. Before there had been the occasional one who would hover around the edge of the group, and sometimes Sasuke would even include them if they weren't being overly intrusive. But now he couldn't go anywhere without half a dozen following him around. It was almost funny in a twisted sort of way. In his attempts to push everyone away, he had instead drawn more people to him than ever before.

And I wasn't giving up on him either. In a strange reversal of our roles I was now the one trying to coax Sasuke out of his shell. I went out of my way to try and include him in various activities from eating lunch together to playing Ninja, to walking back and forth from school. Or at least I tried to. Trying to coax him into a conversation seemed to be a lost cause and more often than not he was nowhere to be found before or after class.

Knowing him he was probably actively avoiding me. He was stubborn like that.

The thing is that I'm stubborn too. Even more so than him, given that I'd had longer to practice than he had.

A few months after the Uchiha Incident, as everyone had taken to calling it, just as we were settling in for class I saw Sasuke over by the window trying his absolute hardest to secede that little corner of space from the rest of the world.

I made my way over to him but before I had a chance to try and draw him into another conversation he surprised me by being the first person to speak.

For the first time in over a month he met my eyes and was glaring at me. "Why won't you just leave me alone?"

I was so surprised that he'd actually acknowledged my presence that it took me a few moments to respond. But now that I'd finally gotten him talking again I wasn't going to let this chance go to waste.

I met his glare with one of my own and said "Because you're my friend. And if you think acting like a jerk to everyone around you is going to be enough to get rid of me than you'd better think again."

He stared at me for a few moments before turning his head, and for a moment I thought he was just brushing me off again but then he sighed and turned back towards me, a sullen look on his face. "Do whatever you want."

As I sat down next to him he faced back towards the window and I had to suppress a sigh of my own. It looked like we still had a long way to go.

I wouldn't say our friendship every really recovered, but Sasuke was no longer ignoring me, the way he did with everyone else. True he wouldn't really acknowledge me either but now at least he would nod at me if we ended up sitting next to each other in a given class and would answer questions with more than just a simple yes or no answer.

We may have had a ways to go for our friendship to come back in full, but at least this was a step in the right direction.

And of course, despite what was happening in my personal life, classes progressed as usual. I was further ahead in all of the basics, thanks in no small part to my adult mind being able to learn new information and retain it so easily, and tended to work on my own projects during class, or read a book if I was especially bored. One thing I was happy to learn was that the teachers didn't really care what you were doing so long as you didn't disrupt the class. Or rather they probably did care, but my theory was that this was a way to help weed out those who couldn't make the cut. Instead of spending time trying to force everyone to pay attention, they focused on the ones who wanted to learn and let the ones who were more focused on goofing off fall behind.

It wasn't fair, but in a world like this there wasn't really a time or place for fair. Only the best got to become Ninja and only the best of the best stood a chance of being accepted onto a Jonin Squad and moving past the rank of Genin.

Even though I was ahead academically I still found myself struggling to stay on par in the physical department. I wasn't behind the others but I could tell I was having a harder time of it than almost everyone else. The thing was I knew why I was having so much more trouble with Taijutsu classes than everyone else. I wasn't enhancing my muscles with chakra and they were.

They couldn't control it any more than they could control their blood flow which was why it was so frustrating. I was aware of my chakra, in a way that no one else ever had been. To me it was something new, something different, and while I was perfectly comfortable using it for control exercises and the like, if I wasn't actively using it then I just let it be. And because I wasn't enhancing my muscles it was obvious that I would have a harder time keeping up.

I had discovered this almost a year ago, while training with my Dad and had decided to continue as I had been, because as cool as it would have been to leap forward in class standing's, I also knew that the more I trained without it the stronger I would be when I did start enhancing my muscles. Kind of like when athletes train at high altitude so that there that much more prepared for the real events.

And more importantly I didn't want to start using chakra like that so soon for a different reason. Figuring out how to enhance my muscles was the easy part. But when it's internalized like that, when it's used to enhance your muscles you suddenly feel invincible. It's like you flipped a switch and you've suddenly become superman. You feel like you can crush rocks with your bare hands and leap tall buildings. It feels like nothing is impossible.

Long story short I wanted to wait until I got used to it so that it wasn't such a rush before I started training with it.

But as far as the human body is concerned, chakra circulates throughout the body in a network called the Chakra Pathway System, which is in turn made up of Chakra Coils of varying degrees of size and strength. But more than that chakra is in every single cell in the body which is why it's so dangerous to use it all up.

Chakra is connected to the body and mind, made up of equal parts mental and physical energy. But while it is intrinsically connected to body, because it also has its own network it builds up independently over time. That's also why Ninja have so much more chakra than civilians. The intense training Ninja put themselves through naturally builds there reserves over time. Most Ninja never actually reach their chakra limit, that point when their chakra network has grown to its absolute max. There would always be a little bit more training they could do, a little bit more capacity they could eek out. And even if they ever _did_ max out there capacity, they could always improve their control some more.

But while chakra being connected to the body has a lot of benefits, such as enhanced muscles and the ability to use Jutsu, it also has its fair share of drawbacks; namely chakra exhaustion. Chakra exhaustion is so named because of what happens when you run out of chakra. Simply put if you ever completely run out of chakra you die.

Thankfully, truly running out of chakra is almost impossible. Before you do your body has its own failsafe's to prevent that worst case scenario. Once your reserve of chakra was used up the body started to take from what was needed to keep your body functioning. It started with your muscles which made them feel like you had just run a marathon, full of lactic acid and to weak and shaky to keep performing normally. After that, if you kept forcing it to, your body would begin to use chakra from the heart and lungs and other internal organs. It would become harder to breathe, harder to think, and if you didn't stop it would eventually lead to death.

In most cases, if pushed this far your body will force you to black out in order to keep itself alive. In order to force yourself past that point you either had to be very determined or very desperate.

This is why our sensei's told us over and over, not to even attempt anything with our chakra unsupervised until we were older. At our age most of us didn't any chakra beyond what was necessary to stay alive. Attempting a Jutsu could very well be lethal.

From what I could tell I actually had above average sized reserves for someone my age. I didn't have the most out of the entire class but I was definitely in top ten as far as reserves went. They may have even been larger than that since I had been practicing with my chakra from such a young age. And that's not even mentioning the fact that I was from the Senju clan. The Senju were descendants of the Sage of Six paths, and had inherited the strong body and life force from his son after all. It wasn't inconceivable that my heritage was affecting my growth rate.

One of the good things about practicing with my chakra from such a young age was that I had exceptionally good control over my chakra. Especially considering my above average reserves of chakra since, typically, people with larger reserves don't have great control. But it wasn't just my own chakra I could sense. I didn't know if I was a sensor type or not since Ninja with that kind of potential are far rarer, but I was aware of people around me in a way that other kids my age weren't. My range wasn't that far, but I could sense Iruka-sensei or Mizuki-sensei when they weren't in the room. Not by a lot but I could tell when they were in the hallway before they opened the door. With time and practice I would hopefully be able to expand that distance by a much wider margin. Because even if I never became a dedicated sensor type Ninja I could definitely see a use for being able to tell were other people were without having to see them. In combat, for example, it would be a godsend. And outside of combat it would still be incredibly useful in tracking missions. Not to mention that it wasn't just other people that I could sense.

The thing about chakra is that it's everywhere in the human body and beyond. Natural energy permeated everything and could be sensed by a select few people who were dubbed Sages. Thankfully I couldn't sense natural energy myself. What I knew I only knew because of a half remembered TV show from a lifetime ago. What I _could_ sense seemed to be residual chakra from jutsu or from people channeling large amounts of chakra. There was never a lot left behind but anyplace where chakra had been used stood out to me.

It was our fourth year at the academy before we started training in anything chakra related. Up until now we hadn't really been told anything about chakra other than it existed. A lot of my classmates were really excited, probably thinking that we were going to be learning a jutsu of some sort, but Iruka-sensei shot those thoughts down right away. To begin with we were mostly going to be practicing chakra control. The leaf sticking exercise to start with and then we would be moving on to harder and more complex ones. Actual Jutsu wouldn't be taught until our last year at the Academy.

Which was fine. Or at least it would have been fine, if I hadn't already mastered the leaf sticking exercise a few years ago. While there were a few others like me who thought it was pointless, like Sasuke who I knew could already perform several jutsu, let alone a basic control exercise, and Naruto who thought it was lame, most of the class was still excited by the prospect of having to do anything involving chakra at all.

In addition to starting with basic control exercise's we were also relentlessly drilled on hand seals. And not just how to form them, but also how to recognize them and what they were associated with. For instance, the Snake seal was most often used in earth based Jutsu, while the Tiger seal was generally associated with Fire techniques. And this was important information to learn, not least of all because if you knew what hand seals a person was using to perform a jutsu you could determine a _lot_ about it. It's elemental affinity, how to counter it, how long it lasts, how much chakra it uses, whether or not it was possible to block or unravel and more besides.

But just because it was something important and useful to learn doesn't mean it was _easy_ to learn. If there was even the slightest mistake in even a single hand seal your entire Jutsu could fall apart wasting time and chakra. Especially at first, despite all the things we had been learning for the last few years, I had difficulty moving my hands into positions that were entirely unnatural for them.

And with the arrival of our chakra training we were also given our first real set of kunai and shuriken to train with. Up until now we had only been using wooden ones that were so light they needed to be thrown at special targets or they wouldn't sink in far enough and would fall to the ground. But these were real weapons, designed to kill. It was almost morbid how most of the class was _excited_ by the prospect of real weapons.

My parents were so proud when I told them, and I couldn't help but feel a little bit of that pride myself when they told me I could start wearing my Kunai pouch all the time.

But despite the sort of good news, I was feeling on edge. The real weapons and having been told I could wear them everywhere weren't the cause of my unease, they just highlighted it. I almost couldn't tell because it was happening to me too, but everything we were being taught was changing, ever so slightly at first, and then more and more as time went on. Slowly but surely everything was becoming harsher, more challenging, more geared towards the truth of what actual Ninja missions were like. It was a slow subtle process to let us become used to what was really expected of us.

We were being conditioned and didn't even know it. The only reason I was able to tell was because of the vast differences between this world and my old one.

Taijutsu class was, at first, basically a more intensive gym class. But as the years passed we slowly switched to a more proactive study in physical combat. It started out relatively simple; 100 punches in this stance followed by 100 kicks in a different one. Just doing the same thing over and over, letting it sink into our muscle memory. But after a few months of that we moved onto learning an actual style of fighting. It was a basic style that revolved more around dodging and deflecting strikes, moves that would be useful if we were attacked by anyone bigger than us, since anyone we encountered would most likely be older and stronger than we were. It really wasn't even a real style, just the basics of the basics, something that we could build on in the future with clan training, or when we left the Academy and started getting real world experience.

With a few exceptions the other kids in my class tended to treat Taijutsu as a game, especially once we started sparring. Instead of really trying to win they would use light attacks that wouldn't really hurt anyone, the winner being decided by how often you were struck before Iruka-sensei called the match. But I couldn't take that luxury. Taijutsu wasn't just a game, it was what people lived and died by in this world.

I couldn't afford to treat it like a game. I knew what was coming. Invasion, Betrayal, War. Madara.

When I was called out for my first match I won almost instantly. I didn't really want to hurt any of my classmates, but it was so easy. A quick punch to the stomach, forcing them to double over in pain, an elbow to the temple, a leg sweep followed by an arm lock; these were all fast easy maneuvers that won me the match in the first few seconds.

One thing my almost uninterrupted string of victories did for the rest of the class was motivate them to try harder. At first they chalked it up to luck but as time went on and my list of victories continued to grow they became more and more determined to defeat me. In a weird backwards sort of way, I was helping them prepare for the future.

Surprisingly enough one of the only people who really appreciated my no nonsense take to Taijutsu was Sasuke. We may have been back on speaking terms but it was a far cry from our old friendship. During Taijutsu class, however, we were matched up almost constantly, especially at the beginning. I think it was because the teachers figured out pretty quickly we were the only ones taking it seriously at first.

And sparring against Sasuke was actually _fun_. Being forced to time my strikes and having to dodge and deflect attacks that would actually hurt if they connected, actually having to plan out how to attack, compensating for his attacks against me, trying to maneuver him into the most favorable position for my win, all the while having to defend against him doing the same to me. It brought out a competitive side that I never knew I had.

As time went on and everyone else began to match us in the ring we were paired against each other less and less. Sasuke still won all of his matches but after a little less than six months my undefeated status fell by the wayside. I still won the majority of my matches, but it was becoming harder and harder, the fights taking longer and longer. I was pretty sure that if I began to enhance my muscles with chakra like everyone else was doing then I would have fared much better, but since I didn't want to do that I had to do the best I could with what I had.

By this point I wasn't quite sure how many students were left overall in my class or if there even was anyone else besides the near 30 that my class was now made up of. Shikamaru and Choji had joined the rest and now the whole of the Rookie 9 were here. Granted they didn't know that they were the Rookie 9 yet, not even aware that only nine students would graduate and become apprenticed to a Jonin while the rest would be relegated to the Genin Corps.

But they were all here.

This brought up another problem that I had been avoiding thinking about. Unlike the Uchiha Incident, as everyone had taken to calling it, there was actually nothing I could do about this one. To be honest there wasn't really anything I could have done about the massacre either but that didn't change the way I felt about being helpless. And once again I was helpless to affect my future.

I didn't know what to do about team placements. The Rookie 9 where called that specifically because of the fact that there were nine of them. Only nine people would join three man squads and I needed to be one of them. If I couldn't make the cut then nothing I was planning would mean anything. But doing that meant I would have to push one of them out of the picture.

It was an aggravating situation because there wasn't anything I could do. Where I ended up, and who I pushed out of the running, if I pushed anyone out at all which was a thought I refused to entertain for long, wasn't up to me. True I might have been able to hedge my bets a little by performing well in certain areas of study, either intellectually or practically, such as tracking or taijutsu, but because I didn't know what all the variables were I had no way of knowing where I would end up anyway.

All I could do was train and hope for the best.

One day after classes had ended, I was training with my dad and something happened. Maybe it was due to my frustration with the fast approaching graduation day, or maybe it was caused by my worry over what team I would be placed on, I'm not sure. All I know was that it was unexpected.

My Dad and I were sparring and he was winning, as was usual with our spars. He was a Jonin so it wasn't any great surprise. But he was rubbing it in and it was ticking me off. It wasn't cruel or anything like that, just some good natured ribbing to push me to try harder. But in the mood I was in I was taking it the wrong way and getting angrier and angrier that I couldn't even land a single hit against him.

Suddenly, faster than I could see, between one blink and the next he was behind me, twisting my arm behind my back with one hand and patting my head with the other. "Were gonna call it a day here, alright kiddo? You need to calm down before we can make any progress."

It was the right choice to make and I knew it. In the mood I was in training would do me no good, but that didn't make me any happier. If anything it made it worse because we were quitting early and it was my fault.

There was something in the back of my mind, an undercurrent to my chakra that I had noticed before but dismissed due to how insubstantial it felt. Acting on instinct and emotion more than anything else I poured all of my feelings into it, my anger, my frustration and worry, my desire to _win_.

And my chakra responded in kind.

I heard a strange cracking noise from behind me like rocks being hit together, and almost instantly I felt the pressure on my arm disappear as Dad let go of me and jumped back. I stumbled a bit in response but forced myself upright and turned around at his sharp intake of breath.

A _tree_ that hadn't been there before was suddenly in our back yard and it was _growing_. Rapidly.

"How-" And all at once what I was doing caught up with me. I felt my chakra drain at an alarming rate and before I knew what was happening, my vision blurred, darkening at the corners. I felt lightheaded and it seemed as though I had plenty of time to watch as the ground rushed up and hit me.


	5. Chapter 4

**AN: And with this we finally finish the Intro chapters. I was planning to go more in depth about Ryusei awakening Wood Style but since it's not really going to come up for a while I opted to shorten this chapter and combine it with the next one. This is partly because I don't want to give too much information away too early, but is also because these are** _ **intro**_ **chapters and as important as they are for laying groundwork and character exploration, I think it's high time we got on to the actual story, don't you?**

Chapter 4

 _There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.- Colin Powell_

I opened my eyes and took a deep breath. Today was the day I had been training for, the day I had been both dreading and anticipating for years; Graduation day. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and started getting ready for the day. I couldn't put it off any longer and just lying around worrying wasn't going to get me anywhere. One way or another it was time to face the music.

Just what exactly, was I going to do? Was there even anything I _could_ do?

I turned the thought over in my head for what felt like the hundredth time. I knew all the options I had available, but it seemed like a matter of choosing between bad and worse.

Ideally I wanted to graduate and be placed on team that would pass the test. That would put me as close to the action as I could hope for and I'd have the best chance to grow stronger and affect upcoming events. But that would mean I would have to push someone out of the Rookie 9, something I didn't want to do. At the beginning they had been an eclectic bunch, with all the arguing and petty squabbles that you would expect from a bunch of 12 year olds, but as time went on they had grown into a cohesive unit, each bringing their own unique strengths and insights, with unbreakable bonds of friendship and trust.

I could always fail the graduation exam but that option was quickly discarded. Not only would it would be hard to fail after keeping my scores so close to the top of the standings, but failing meant that I would have to be held back a year. While the events a few years off were the ones that would truly make or break the Ninja world, everything important that was going to happen would start this year. If I wanted to change _anything_ I couldn't afford to stay stuck in school.

And there was more to it than just that. It's kind of hard to describe just what being a Ninja means. It's like being part of something greater than just yourself, something that is more than just the sum of its parts. Being a Ninja meant that you were willing to put your life on the line for the greater good of the Village. It was both a duty and an honor, and the once foreign concepts had quickly become ideals that I now _wanted_ to uphold.

So flunking the exam to keep the original Rookie 9 together wasn't an option. Neither was the Genin Corps or the Medical Squad for that matter. I wasn't sure if I could become strong enough to affect what was coming but at the very least I knew I needed to be able to actually _do_ something about it.

The Genin Corps were for larger scale operations and border patrol. They were good, as far as Genin went, but were more of a reactionary force than anything else. Other than border patrol and D to C rank missions they were only really called in when quantity became more important than quality.

And that didn't happen very often.

Becoming a Medic was an even less attractive option. Medics, even field medics, were there to pick up the pieces after a fight not to take part in the actual fighting. Although, that being said, I did want to try and learn some basic medical ninjutsu to make mistakes a little more forgiving, but those plans were on the back burner for the moment.

Which left passing the exam and taking the place of one of the Rookie 9 as my only real option.

Even though I didn't want to deprive someone of their rightfully earned place as a Hidden Leaf Ninja, I couldn't help but feel a little excited. After 12 years of planning, training, and preparing as best I could, things were finally about to start. It felt sort of like sitting down to take a test after you've been studying for ages. There's no more time to worry or prepare and it's time to see whether or not you're up to scratch.

I paused for a moment as an image appeared in my mind, of a twisted creature that dwarfed mountains, with a single blazing red eye.

The Ten Tails.

I shuddered at the thought. The progenitor of all chakra, one of, if not the, strongest being in _existence_ and I was trying to plan a way to defeat it? Was I insane? It was probably best if I never looked too closely at that thought. In fact it would probably be best if I could circumvent that fight altogether. If the Nine tailed beasts could never be collected then it could never be resurrected now could it?

But if I failed and the tailed beasts were collected and the Ten Tails was resurrected then what? Was I just setting myself up for failure?

Maybe I was and maybe I wasn't. In the end it doesn't matter. There was no turning back at this point.

Was I ready? That was the question I needed to focus on right now. I could prepare for the future later because right now that's what it was; the future. I could make all the plans I wanted but until it arrived there wasn't anything I could do about it so I needed to focus on what could be accomplished here and now.

With a few exceptions, like Shikamaru, I was probably the smartest and most experienced out of all the potential graduates. I could pull off all three Jutsu's taught at the Academy- the Transformation, Clone, and replacement Jutsu- and was one of only two students who had mastered a jutsu with an elemental affinity, the other one being Sasuke. I could perform the Water Wall Jutsu relatively quickly although I hadn't been able to test it out in combat yet.

And it wasn't like Jutsu were the be all and end all of the Shinobi arts. There was a reason that the only three jutsu taught at the Academy weren't geared towards offense. My Taijutsu was nothing to sneeze at and I was a fair hand at making traps but didn't really consider that a combat skill, since you so rarely had enough time in combat to set up a decent trap.

I still didn't know if I was a sensory type Ninja but my range for sensing had been steadily improving over the last few years. It hadn't become amazing or anything like that, but I could now sense a few hundred feet in any direction as opposed to the dozen or so feet I had been capable of when I first started, but unless I was looking for someone in particular it was still difficult to differentiate between two different chakra signatures unless I was familiar with them.

And regardless of everything I had learned I still hadn't used any of it in actual combat, Academy spars notwithstanding, and I didn't know how I would stack up against an opponent who was trying to do more than just knock me around.

But measuring myself against other Academy students was a waste of time. I needed to be far stronger than that. When I thought about what I would eventually be up against a part of me always felt as though I would _never_ be strong enough. I needed to be at a level where I could fight against _multiple_ S-class Ninja and then still be able to fight something even stronger.

And that's where my ace in the hole came into play. Or at least I was hoping it would become an ace in the hole. Wood Style. My Kekkei Genkai. One of the strongest and most coveted techniques ever seen, one that had only ever awoken in one person. Until now that is.

That had been one hell of a day. Or week, as the case may be. In using wood style for the first time I had almost inadvertently killed myself via chakra exhaustion and it had taken six days to wake up from the semi-coma I had fallen into.

My clan, as small as it had become, was hailing me as the next Hashirama, as the person who would be responsible for restoring our clan to its former glory. They weren't shouting it from the rooftops, thankfully, but I think that had more to do with the Hokage's decision to label my Kekkei Genkai as an S class secret, with the addendum that it could be revealed at my discretion, rather than any desire to remain quiet on their part.

And while at first that seemed a little excessive over time I became grateful for his decision. And that was mainly because I knew exactly how much other Villages both feared and desired my Kekkei Genkai. There were people in my own Village that had gone to _extreme_ lengths to acquire it.

Something that, more than once, made me break out into a cold sweat was what would happen if someone like Orochimaru found out about me. He had been willing to sacrifice 60 children just on the off chance that one of them would awaken the First Hokage's Kekkei Genkai. What would he do if he learned of someone who had awoken it naturally?

I didn't want to find out.

Unfortunately, despite my future potential, right now that's all it was; potential. I hadn't successfully used any Wood Style techniques since the one accidental activation almost a year ago. My parents explained very carefully that the reason I had blacked out, and in fact almost died of chakra exhaustion, was because I had forced the Jutsu without changing my chakra nature and without knowing the proper hand signs. The end result being that it had ended up costing far more chakra than it would have normally.

After the day my Kekkei Genkai was discovered a lot of things changed for me, not least of which was my training. I was still taught Taijutsu, and practiced with my throwing weapons on a daily basis, but a good portion of each day's training was now geared towards learning how to properly utilize nature manipulation.

Originally they hadn't been planning on starting training me in my chakra affinity until after I graduated from the Academy. But the discovery of my Kekkei Genkai changed that. It would take a long time to properly train in Wood Style techniques since I was currently the only one in the village able to use Wood Style, and would essentially have to teach myself everything from scratch. But before I could even start training any Wood Style Techniques, I would need to master nature manipulation for both water and earth.

Although I didn't exactly buy my parents story about being the only one in the Village with access to Wood Style, I didn't bother trying to press the issue. There were only two others as far as I knew and neither Yamato, nor Danzo would want that information known publicly.

My parents had withheld a lot of training that would lead to more advanced techniques and styles of fighting. Actually, withheld is probably the wrong word to use. They wanted me to succeed and trained me to the best of their ability, but they only covered the basics, adding to what the Academy taught but leaving my training open ended enough that I would be able to build on it and develop on my own. They were big believers in finding your own way in life and their training reflected that. Not to the point that they were leaving me unprepared, but they did frequently encouraged me to try and work things out myself.

Even though at times it was frustrating since I could have used their knowledge and experience as a shortcut, I grew to accept and even appreciate their style of training. It forced me to think about everything in a different light, to come at problems from different angles and when I did figure something out that I had been struggling with, it made the payoff that much sweeter, since I had actually accomplished something rather than just being given the answer.

They were as eager to see me succeed as the rest of the Clan but that didn't change their approach to training. Even if I did have the potential for two or more chakra nature's I still needed to determine what my base affinity was. I was surprised to learn that even Kekkei Genkai users didn't just get a double affinity. They still had a base affinity that they would need to learn and would go from there. Unless of course they had a Kekkei Genkai like the Sharingan that didn't require a change in chakra nature to use.

A few days after the accidental discovery of my Kekkei Genkai I had been given a slip of paper by my Dad and been told to channel my chakra into it. I recognized the test for what it was and accepted the paper from him, quickly channeling a small amount of chakra into it. A few seconds later the paper became wet, and it was obvious that my base element was water.

I was quite happy that water was my base affinity for a number of reasons. Water Jutsu were probably the most versatile of all jutsu, used for both attack and defense, capable of striking with enough force to crush an opponent or with enough precision to impale them. Learning to alter my chakra nature had been extremely difficult, considering I was still young and my chakra coils weren't fully developed yet but I persevered and weeks before graduation I could successfully perform a single Water Style Jutsu.

The weird thing about chakra elemental natures was that training in one was largely talent oriented. Sasuke had not only managed to change his chakra nature, but had also learned his clan's signature jutsu, within a week. Naruto, on the other hand, despite being older and stronger at the time, had also taken a week. But it had been a week where he had trained nonstop with _hundreds_ of shadow clones. That means that, without the Shadow Clone Jutsu, Naruto would have taken _years_ to learn how to change his chakra nature.

Even with all the things I knew, with everything I had trained for, and everything I would still need to train for in the coming days, it all still boiled down to one simple question: Was I ready?

I didn't know, and I was running out of time to prepare. It's one thing to think that there was plenty of time left when you can barely walk, and there's over a decade left to go but it's quite another thing to realize that the future, as ambiguous as that concept always seems, was right around the corner. Less than six months until the Chunin Exams, the three years for the time skip, and that was it. After that there would be no time left to prepare.

Where had all the _time_ gone? Three years? That wasn't long enough.

I sat the graduation test, laser focused on the sheet of paper in front of me, answering the questions one after the other without any difficulty. When my turn to perform a Jutsu in front of the class came up, I calmly walked forward and produced two clones with barely any effort. I passed with flying colors and couldn't keep the grin off my face when Iruka-Sensei presented me with my own head band, proudly engraved with the symbol of the Hidden Leaf Village.

That may have been the proudest moment in _both_ my lives, momentarily overpowering any doubts I may have had.

A few minutes later the warm feeling in my chest evaporated because Naruto _didn't pass_. But that was before I remembered that he hadn't passed before either. There had been something important that had happened to him. A special test he had taken after failing the first one or something similar. It was when he was supposed to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu, so it was kind of important. Not for the first time I wished there was some way I could record what I did remember of the show. I didn't dare write any of my knowledge down, not even in English, because I couldn't risk what I knew falling into the wrong hands.

After class ended I saw Naruto sitting by himself on the lone swing in the corner of the Academy grounds. I was about to go over and say something, but then I saw Mizuki-Sensei approach him. After watching them talk for a few moments Naruto's demeanor instantly changed from sad to ecstatic, and a few seconds later he ran off.

What I was seeing seemed to fit my memories, but something about the whole situation felt off to me. But with my own parents waiting just outside the entrance to the Academy I didn't get the chance to go and investigate. I turned away from the still smirking Mizuki-sensei and presented my shiny new headband to my parents. My Mom pulled me into a tight hug as my dad affectionately rubbed the top of my head, both saying how proud they were of me.

That night the celebration dinner my Mom had prepared for me was interrupted by an alarm going off throughout the Village. My Dad stood, grim faced but determined, to go answer the call. Both my mother and I geared up although for me that really just amounted to putting my sandals on. As a new Genin I didn't really have any gear that I needed to fetch in case of an emergency.

There were a number of different alarms that would go off in a myriad of different circumstances, some loud, some quiet, and even a few silent ones. Not to mention that there were a number of ways information could be passed without using the alarm system, such as messenger birds, signal hawks, or even good old fashioned word of mouth. They were coded for everything from escaped pets to enemy invasion. I had been instructed in the different codes as soon as I code string a complete sentence together.

What alarmed me was that I didn't recognize this particular alarm. I could tell that only Jonin were required to respond, but beyond that nothing. Whatever was going on was way above my pay grade.

Which was why I was doubly worried because I was sure this was somehow related to Naruto.

My Mum was gripping the table so hard that her knuckles were turning white, and I absentmindedly wondered if she was lowering the amount of chakra she was using, because if I enhanced my muscles I would probably break the table if I used the same amount of pressure she was.

Even though they were calling for Jonin my mother was given a little bit of leeway because she was only a special Jonin and had stopped requesting missions well before I was born. But if the alarms changed then one or both of us could be called on to act. I may have only been a Genin for a few hours but I had been given a headband and was thus considered a Ninja, so if the call went out I would have to respond.

Rather than worry about something I couldn't control I distracted myself by finishing dinner and then getting out the Ninja registration forms that Iruka-Sensei had given to everyone who passed.

Mom looked at me with a fond smile on her face and asked "How can you focus on that right now? Aren't you the least bit nervous? You've earned your headband, so if they call for Genin you need to head out as well." Her tone was teasing but I think she was terrified that I might actually be called out on my first night as an official Genin.

I shrugged in response and continued to fill out the forms. "Can't do anything about it, so there's no point worrying. May as well do something productive in the meantime." I tried to keep my own tone level because I didn't want her to know that she wasn't the only one who was nervous.

I'd heard alarms go off before but this was the first time that I would be expected to respond, which lent a certain weight to the situation that had never been there before.

It was a few hours later, long after I finished filling out the forms that another alarm sounded, this one I thankfully understood. _Situation resolved. All Ninja return to normal status._

Mum sighed and sagged in relief. "Well, that was far too much excitement for one night," she said, Ignoring the fact that we hadn't actually done anything. "Your father probably won't be home for hours so why don't you head off to bed? You've got a week's free time before you'll be placed on a team so you should rest up and try and enjoy it."

She was trying to distract me and I appreciated the effort. The waiting and worry had left my nerves stretched thin and sleep sounded wonderful right now.

The next day I swung by the Hokage Tower to turn in the necessary forms and to have my Photo ID taken. Between that and a bunch of extra paperwork that could only be filled out on sight, it ended up taking me most of the morning.

When the last form was finally filled out I handed it in to the desk for the Ninja on duty to look over. "Ryusei Senju: Registration Number 012609."

The Ninja on duty glanced over it one last time before stamping it and setting it aside for filing. "Everything looks to be in order. Thank you for promptly filling it out."

I nodded politely and quickly left, happy to leave the stuffy office behind. It hadn't been difficult to fill out, just tedious. And I don't care what anyone says; just because it's related to being a Ninja does not make paperwork any less boring to fill out.

After grabbing an early lunch I went home, out into the backyard next to the tree that I had forced into existence, and ran through a few light Kata's that Mom had taught me years ago. I wasn't exactly sure what their original purpose had been because I had never once used them in a spar, but they were good for working the different muscle groups of the body. And more importantly I could focus on them while letting my mind wander onto more important topics.

As Mom had pointed out last night, team placements were less than a week away. That meant that I was almost out of time to prepare. And that meant that it was high time I formed a plan. Not that I didn't have a plan already, but I needed something a little more specific than 'Kill Madara' or 'Stop Akatsuki'.

For starters I needed to get a lot stronger. Unfortunately that was much easier said than done. But there were options. There were always options. You just needed to find them.

I could master earth manipulation, which would open the door to learning wood style. I could learn more water jutsu, or study up on any earth jutsu that might be useful to know. After all, just because I had access to a Kekkei Genkai that was no reason I should ignore the elements that it was made up of. More options were always a good thing.

And I definitely wanted to learn some healing jutsu. I didn't want to be a medic, but having a few healing techniques, even basic ones, could be the difference between life and death out in the field. And it wasn't just a few new techniques that drew my eye to medical ninjutsu. There were also the seals.

Seals in this world were like technology in my old one, at least as far as hospitals went. The few times I had been to the hospital I had seen them everywhere. They were used for heart monitors, to sense chakra levels, and more besides that I couldn't recognize. Seals were so closely tied into healing that Tsunade was probably almost as adept at using them as Jiraiya, now that I thought about it.

And seals could be used for so much more outside of hospitals and medical jutsu. There were extreme examples like the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God technique, but there were also much simpler things like exploding tags, and storage seals that every Ninja used to some degree. Having an understanding of sealing techniques, even if I didn't have the talent to become a sealing master like Jiraiya, would be beyond useful.

But as cool as seals were that particular idea would have to stay on the back burner for the time being. While seals could be used to devastating effect on the battlefield, they could also take a lifetime of study to master. If I focused on them almost exclusively, then in a few years I _might_ be good enough to rely on them, but it wasn't a practical way to train. I had a potentially powerful Kekkei Genkai that I would soon be able to start learning how to wield, and if my current chakra reserves were any indication then, in a few years, I would have enough chakra to harness that potential.

Basically my deck was stacked for ninjutsu and it wasn't practical to try and force myself into a different area of study. While I did want to learn some sealing techniques as a way to supplement to my own personal fighting style I would have to wait until everything was said and done before I could really focus on it.

Assuming I managed to survive, that is.

I smirked to myself slightly as I finished the kata and slowly came to a stop. I really needed to stop being such a pessimist.

The rest of the week passed by in a blur. Between training with my parents, (extended training because I didn't have classes anymore) starting to work on an earth affinity, and just the all-around chaos of day to day living, it felt as though the morning of team placements arrived far faster than it should have.

I woke up well before my alarm went off, and after trying and failing to go back to sleep, I got ready for the day. After my morning routine I pulled on a pair of grey pants and a matching shirt. Over that went my graduation present from my parents, a teal-blue vest with a mesh underlay designed to minimize damage. Next I stuffed a pair of metal backed, fingerless gloves into my pouch, being careful to place them away from my ninja tools, in case we had to spar today, and pulled on my sandals. I didn't think we would be need to spar but it payed to be prepared.

And then came the last piece. I stood before the mirror and tied my forehead protector around my head for the first time. It settled onto my forehead comfortably, pushing the fringe of white hair out of my eyes, and keeping the rest of my overly spiky black hair in check.

I had accepted this world and this Village as my own years ago but seeing my reflection, with the Hidden Leaf symbol proudly displayed, really seemed to drive the point home. This wasn't just a story, not anymore. I wasn't sure what the future had in store for me, but one way or another, it was about to begin.

 **AN: I'm working on a few images of Ryusei at the moment that I'll post on a soon to be made Deviantart account so you can see what he looks like. In the meantime however, while there are going to be some key differences, he's based on the current cover Image for this story, so until there done you can use that as a reference. Just without the mask.**


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 _Resilience is all about being able to overcome the unexpected. Sustainability is about survival. The goal of resilience is to thrive. - Jamais Cascio_

"As of today you are all Ninja's. To get here you've faced difficult trails and hardships. But what comes next will be far more difficult. Right now you are only Genin, first level Ninja's." Iruka-Sensei took a moment to look down at the stack of papers he had in his hands before continuing. "All the Genin will be grouped into three man squads which will be led by a Jonin instructor."

I could hear several startled exclamations behind me followed by a few hushed conversations. Huh. Apparently there had been more than one parent who hadn't told their kids what to expect.

And now that I thought about it why _would_ they tell them? It wasn't something that anyone ever really discussed. It was an unspoken rule; something that everyone just knew. Ninja work in teams.

That also meant that a lot of people would be caught off guard, orphans, and civilian kids to name a few. They wouldn't know what any of the unspoken rules were.

Clearing his throat Iruka-sensei drew our attention to the front of the room again. "We want each squad to have a balance of strength's and abilities so that's how we set them up."

He started calling out names and I was only half listening until…

"Team Seven: Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Ryusei Senju."

My mouth hit the ground in shock.

What. The. Hell.

I was vaguely aware that Hinata, Kiba, and Shino formed Team eight like I remembered, and that Team Ten was the reformation of the Ino-Shika-Cho, but my mind was a thousand miles away. I knew that I would have to replace a member of the Rookie 9, I had accepted that. But Naruto? He was… well, he was _Naruto_!

Him being on Squad Seven had been the whole reason that _anything_ had even turned out remotely ok! The Wave Mission, the Chunin Exams, Tsunade becoming Hokage, and a bunch of other stuff I couldn't remember! Without him what was going to happen?

A few seconds later my thoughts were interrupted by the very person I had been thinking about. Naruto stood up and shouted, "Hey, wait a minute, you never called my name!"

I blinked in surprise and went over the last few minutes in my head and realized that he was right. He hadn't actually been put on _any_ squad.

Iruka-Sensei cleared his throat and then replied, "I know I didn't, I was getting to that. Due to the unique circumstances of your graduation you've been given a special assignment."

Naruto blinked in surprise, and then a grin broke out over his face. "A special assignment, huh? It must be something really important that only no one else can do!" He turned to face the rest of the class and put his hands behind his head. "It's okay to be totally jealous if you want!"

This was what always bugged me about Naruto. Despite the fact that I knew Naruto would become an incredible Ninja and a kind and loyal friend, that didn't change the fact that right now, at the age of twelve, he was such a _brat_.

Naruto had always been treated differently by other people, adults and children alike. Not badly per se, be he was mostly ignored by everyone else and given what had happened on the day of his birth, I couldn't exactly blame them. To a kid eight years may as well be eternity, but to an adult who had lost friends and family it was less than nothing. So to get the attention he craved, Naruto would act out, pull pranks and get into trouble frequently. If that was the only way he was could get attention than that's what he would do. I knew that underneath his rough exterior beat a heart of gold, but sometime he made it really hard to see that side of him.

But even knowing all that didn't make his personality any easier to deal with. Maybe it was selfish of me to not try and befriend him but I'm not a saint. True I had become a Ninja with the intention of trying to help save people, but that wasn't because I particularly liked them. It was because I didn't think I would be able to live with myself if I let that many people die just because I wasn't willing to get off my ass and do something about it.

It wasn't the most altruistic of reasons but it was enough for me.

Looking a little relieved to have finished Iruka-sensei once again addressed the class. "Naruto, you're to report to the Hokage's office immediately. Everyone else, after lunch you'll meet your new Jonin sensei's. Until then class dismissed."

I watched Naruto leave with a sinking feeling in my gut. I had set out to change things, but this wasn't something that I had expected. This wasn't something that I thought was even _possible_. Naruto was supposed to be on Team Seven. And something I had done somewhere along the line, however insignificant I had thought my actions were at the time, had caused this to happen.

I had been worried before that I might not be able to make anything better. But for the first time I became worried that I might actually make things _worse_.

Realizing I was the last person in the classroom I quickly got up and started moving. I needed to get somewhere private before I could freak out. I still had the rest of the day to get through after all. As unexpected as this was, I couldn't let it get to me.

I sat on a bench by myself, a few blocks away from the Academy. Once we had entered our final year we were allowed to leave the grounds during any free time we had to ourselves, and while most students hadn't bothered to take advantage of it, I made good use of the freedom. It wasn't much freedom, to be sure, but after being watched over every single day for so long it had been a welcome change.

As I slowly ate my lunch, there were two things that were at the forefront of my mind that I needed to think through. How I got on Team Seven, and what exactly Naruto's special assignment was.

Figuring out why I ended up on Team Seven actually wasn't that hard. The teams were supposed to be balanced, I knew that much. That's why Naruto and Sasuke had originally ended up on a team together. Sasuke was the best fighter in the class and Naruto was the worst. Sakura evened things out by being the smartest person in class, and all in all they were a fairly balanced team.

But since I had taken Naruto's place that means that we had to be balanced in another way. And it still made sense. Sasuke was still our year's top fighter, and Sakura was still the smartest, while I was almost perfectly average in both fields.

I may have been able to leverage my past experience to make most of what we had been taught irrelevant but there had been certain subjects, like geography and history that I had been completely clueless on. And while I never came in last I also never came in first. The few bad grades I'd gotten in those subjects had been enough to pull me down in class rankings. And as for sparring and practical exams, I had been holding back for most of them. Granted it was more of a training method than any desire to remain average, but the result was the same and I ended up somewhere in the middle of the pack.

So we were still a balanced squad. Just different from what it would have been before.

Trying to figure out what was going on with Naruto however, was another matter entirely. This was new, and unplanned for. _Maybe_ Jiraiya had come back earlier than he had before, or maybe Naruto had been selected for special training, but I kept coming back to the same question: why? As near as I could tell, Naruto was the same person he had been in the manga so I couldn't see what had caused him to get the special assignment.

Even if the instructors, or the Hokage, or whoever it was that had final say in team placements had decided that Naruto wasn't the right fit for Team Seven then he should have just been placed on a different team. No matter how much I racked my brain I just couldn't figure out what had caused this turn of events.

The only thing that I knew for a fact was different was myself. But I also couldn't think of a single thing I had done that would have caused this.

I quickly pushed down any regret that I might have had about my choice to be a Ninja. I still think I made the right choice, and even if I didn't there was no stopping now. I had long since passed the point of no return. All I could do was look forward and prepare as best I could.

And right now that meant meeting my new sensei. And trying not to think about how I may have royally screwed things up.

After we got back to the classroom the squads were collected one by one. Asuma Sarutobi collected squad ten and Kurenai Yuhi left with squad eight a few minutes later leaving just us. Iruka-sensei glanced at the clock before grimacing slightly and turned to us. "I need to turn in some papers at the mission desk in a few minutes. Will you be all right waiting on your own?"

We chorused an agreement and he left.

Or at least we all made a vaguely affirmative sounding noise and _then_ he left.

At first I had been a little curious about who our sensei might be. After all, if Naruto wasn't going to be on Team Seven then there was no guarantee that Kakashi was going to be either. After nearly three hours of waiting however, I was no longer curious. There was only one person who could be this late.

On a whim I sat on the edge of a desk and let myself fall backwards, so that I was lying across it. I stayed like that for a few minutes before I heard Sakura tentatively ask, "Ryusei, what exactly are you doing?"

I cracked open an eye and saw her standing over me with her hands on her hips.

I gave a halfhearted shrug. "Seeing how comfortable the desks are to lie on."

She raised an eyebrow at me in response. "I can see that. But the more important question is _why_ are you seeing how comfortable the desks are?"

I gave another shrug. "No reason really. Just because."

The look on Sakura's face morphed from curiosity to annoyance, but before she could say anything Sasuke's voice drifted over from the other side of the room. "What's the point in doing something for no reason?"

I turned my head in his direction and saw him looking at me with a strange expression on his face, like the concept was completely foreign to him.

Which was actually kinda sad, no matter how you looked at it.

"You're telling me you've never done something just for the heck of it?"

He kept looking at me for a few moments before looking back out the window. "No I haven't."

I knew he was lying. Before the massacre, while he had liked training to try and catch up with his brother, lying around and goofing off had been one of his favorite pastimes.

But that had been a long time ago. "Sasuke?"

He sighed and glanced over again. "What?"

I kicked up the corner of my mouth in a mocking grin and said, "You've led a very boring life. You know that, right?"

He didn't bother responding and resumed his post staring out the window. I think he might actually be ignoring me. I was tempted to laugh.

I turned my head back around and looked up at Sakura, who had been quiet throughout our conversation. "What about you?"

She jumped a little at the sound of my voice and looked down at me again. "What about me?"

"Have you ever done something for no reason?"

She looked back and forth between me and Sasuke and I realized what I had just done. It might have been just for a silly conversation about nothing but that didn't change the fact that I had just put her in a position where she had to choose between me and Sasuke.

I waved her off a few seconds later. "Never mind. It doesn't really matter."

No point in driving a wedge between us on the first day.

She nodded, a brief look of relief on her face and went to sit down at a desk about halfway between me and Sasuke.

I tried to think of what I could do to kill time until Kakashi arrived but I was drawing a blank. If I had known I was going to be on Team Seven I would have brought a book, something I was going to do from then on. But that wasn't going to help me right now.

Screw it, I was already lying down. Might as well try and take a nap before Kakashi arrived.

I'm not exactly sure how much time passed, but a while later I felt someone nudging my arm and sat up, trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes, and mumbled "Yeah, yeah, I'm up."

I looked to see who had woken me up and saw Sakura standing next to me with an exasperated look on her face. Why was she so annoyed? There was no way my nap had taken _that_ long. It was the middle of the day, and we had nothing to do until Kakashi arrived anyways-

I heard a throat clear behind me and froze. I slowly turned around and saw an unmistakable mop of silver hair over a masked face, showing only one eye.

Kakashi had finally shown up. _That's_ why Sakura looked so annoyed at me.

Kakashi smiled at me. "Did you enjoy your nap?"

"Of course I did. In fact I found it quite refreshing." There we go. Great way to make a first impression. Insert sarcasm here.

I couldn't tell because of his mask, but I think I saw his eye twitch a little.

"Hmmm how can I put this?" He looked us over one by one before addressing us. "My first impression of you three; you're a bunch of idiots."

Well _that_ was a promising start.

"Meet me on the roof in five minutes." And just like that he was gone in a puff of chakra smoke and leaves.

My first thought was that he was a bit off a showoff. The jutsu he had used was the body flicker technique, something that looked to the untrained eye like teleportation when in reality it was just incredibly swift movement.

The door to get to the roof was a thirty second walk away and not worth the effort of a jutsu in my opinion. Then again if I could move like that as easily as he did I probably would to, so in the end I couldn't really fault him.

When we got to the roof he was reading from an orange covered book and leaning against the railing. He glanced at us before gesturing to the steps across from him and we took that as our cue to sit down.

Sounding bored Kakashi broke the silence. "Alright then, why don't you introduce yourselves? One at a time."

Sakura tilted her head quizzically. "Introduce ourselves? Well, what are we supposed to say?"

Kakashi held out his arms and shrugged in response. "Things you like. Things you hate. Dreams for the future. Hobbies. Things like that."

I turned towards Sasuke and Sakura and when it seemed like neither one of them were going to say anything I looked at Kakashi and asked, "How about you tell us about yourself first? So we know how this is supposed to go?" It seemed like a perfectly reasonable thing to ask.

"Me? I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate… I don't feel like telling you that." That wasn't all that helpful. "My dreams for the future… never really thought about it. And as for my hobbies… well I have lots of hobbies." Okay now he was just being deliberately annoying.

Sakura must have agreed with me because she turned towards me and Sasuke and whispered, "That was totally useless, all he really told us was his name."

Drawing our attention back to him Kakashi said, "Alright then, your turn. You on the left, you first."

Sakura pointed at herself. "Me?" At Kakashi's nod she smiled. "I'm Sakura Haruno. As for what I like…" And after that I had to stop myself from face-palming. She answered worse than Kakashi. The only thing she did was glance at Sasuke and giggle. Or at least that's all she did until Kakashi reminded her to mention things she hated. Surprisingly enough she turned towards _me_ and muttered, "People who get in the way of true love."

And there was proof that Sakura's fangirl personality was just as annoying as it's always been. Good to know that despite being blindsided today, the rest of the world was still normal. It was a small comfort, but since I was still on the verge of freaking out, every little bit helped.

Kakashi eyed her for a moment like he couldn't quite believe what he'd heard, and then sighed. "Alright. Next."

Since Sasuke still didn't seem to want to say anything I opted to go second. I was half tempted to say something along the lines of 'I'm an Aquarius and I like taking long walks on the beach' but I was pretty sure no one would get the reference. "My name is Ryusei Senju. I like training, my friends and family, and eating dango. I dislike lying." And isn't that a lovely little paradox? "My hobby is reading, I guess. And as for my dreams for the future…"

I had to pause for a moment because it suddenly hit me that I didn't actually know what my dreams were. I was so fixated on trying to get strong enough to change some of the bad things that were going to happen, it had never really occurred to me before now that, if I succeeded, I would still have the rest of my life to do whatever I wanted to. True, I knew a lot of what was going to happen but my knowledge only extended over the next few years. After that I would be as clueless about the future as everyone else. Assuming I managed to pull off what I was planning, and live through it, I had no clue what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

"…They don't really matter." I finished halfheartedly, unsure about what else I could say.

Kakashi nodded and turned towards Sasuke. "Last one."

Sasuke had his hands steepled together under his chin and barely raised his eyes to talk. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and kill a certain someone."

I knew what his goal was but hearing him put words to the idea, especially in such a monotone voice sent a chill down my spine.

Looking as though that was exactly what he had expected Kakashi nodded before addressing all three of us. "Good. You're each unique and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow." He looked each of us in the eyes before continuing. "It's a special task that the four of us will do together." He leaned forward and I felt the sudden change in his chakra. It wasn't Killer Intent, not by a long shot. But it was definitely _something_. "A Survival exercise."

I don't know if she was ignoring it or if she just couldn't feel it but Sakura was the one who broke the silence after Kakashi's latest announcement. "I thought we were supposed to have a real mission, not more practice." I had to give her credit. Despite the atmosphere she actually sounded annoyed at Kakashi. "We already did this stuff at the Academy, that's how we got _here_."

I knew things were about to take a turn for the worst the moment Kakashi started chuckling. "You still don't get it, do you? This isn't like your previous training."

Someone had to say it so I decided to bite the bullet and take one for the team. "Well then what kind of training is it?"

Kakashi smiled darkly. "Of the 27 graduates who just came here only nine will actually be accepted as Genin. The other 18 will be weeded out and sent back to the Academy. In other words this is a make it or break it pass/fail test with at least a 66% failure rate."

Sakura gasped and I heard Sasuke's growl of annoyance. I didn't blame them. I had been expecting it and it was still unsettling. Continuing on as though he hadn't said anything out of the ordinary Kakashi started speaking again. "Be at Training ground three tomorrow, 5:00 AM sharp and don't forgot to bring your Ninja gear." He glanced over us one at a time to make sure we understood his instructions before continuing. "That's all for now, you're dismissed." He stood up straight and made to leave but almost as if it was an afterthought he paused and turned back towards us. "Oh, and tomorrow you'd better skip breakfast or else you're _going_ to throw up." A moment later with a second burst of smoke he disappeared using another Body-Flicker Jutsu.

I blinked at his abrupt departure before sighing. "Well this is going to be fun." I got up and started walking back towards the stairs raising one hand in a half-hearted wave. "See you two tomorrow. I'm outta here."

I wandered home after swinging by a dumpling shop to pick up a few sticks of dango. Having mentioned it earlier had given me a craving for the stuff. I finished them just as I got home, throwing the sticks into the trash as I called out a greeting.

Dad was out on a mission but Mom had made sure to stay home to find out how things had gone and quickly appeared from around a corner. "So how did it go? What happened?"

I tried to think of how to quickly summarize how the morning had gone for me, but between freaking out about Naruto to having to deal with Kakashi's antics I didn't know where to start. I eventually settled on, "My sensei was late."

"He was late?" She sounded surprised. But then it looked like as though a lightbulb went off and she smiled down at me. "Was his name Kakashi Hatake, by any chance?"

She knew him? "Yeah it is. How'd you know?"

She laughed a little before explaining. "I've never met him personally, but the man has quite the reputation."

"Oh." Honestly I should have been able to guess that on my own. Kakashi _was_ famous, both within the village and throughout the Elemental Nations. Considering that my Mom was a Special Jonin it would probably be stranger if she _hadn't_ heard of him. "He said we had to meet tomorrow for a survival mission, some kind of test to see if we actually become Genin. Do you have any pointers?" I was already pretty sure I knew what he was going to have us do but getting another opinion couldn't be a bad idea.

As expected she shook her head. "Sorry sweetie, I can't help you there. Every Jonin-sensei is required to test their team, but the actual test's themselves are left up to each individual Sensei, so there's no way of knowing what it will be, or how to prepare for it."

She leaned down and whispered conspiratorially, "But how about after dinner tonight I'll help you put a mission pack together? That way you'll be ready for anything he throws at you!"

I smiled and threw my arms around her neck in an impulsive hug. "That would be awesome!" It was kind of childish but I didn't care because how many people actually got a second childhood?

She laughed and hugged me back hard enough to lift me off the ground. After a few more minutes talking about the morning I headed to my room before she could start hinting about helping out around the house. Not that I wouldn't have been willing to help if she had asked, but its _chore's_. It's almost a universal law that kids are supposed to avoid them at all costs.

The next day I arrived at the training ground 5:00 AM on the dot, along with both Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura looked as tired as I felt and between the three of us only Sasuke looked awake and ready.

After standing around for a few minutes we all sort of dispersed to different parts of the training field. I was tempted to take a nap but despite Kakashi's reputation for being late I couldn't guarantee that I would wake up before he got here and I didn't want a repeat of yesterday. So instead I pulled out the book that I remembered to bring along and started reading.

And things might have continued that way until Kakashi arrived if I hadn't heard Sasuke's stomach growl. I looked over at him a little surprised. "Didn't you have breakfast?"

He shook his head. "Kakashi-sensei told us not to eat any."

It seemed like such a dumb idea to not eat breakfast but I could admit that it was only in hindsight that it seemed like such bad advice. After I had told her about his instructions to not eat breakfast my Mom had scoffed at the idea and explained why it couldn't work. And she had added a few ration bars into the sealing scroll she'd helped me prepare 'just in case your teammates are dumb enough to follow that advice.' It looks like it was a good thing she'd done it after all.

"While it's true that any strenuous activity immediately after eating can lead to cramps or other complications, it's still important to make sure you eat a healthy amount of food every day. After all some missions can last weeks or even longer so how can you perform properly if you can't eat for that long?" I was actually a little surprised that he didn't know this already. You needed to eat right to stay healthy and being healthy was a large part of being strong. And since Sasuke was so desperate for strength it was odd that he didn't know something so basic.

But then again I could see how he didn't connect 'eating right' with 'killing Itachi' so it wasn't _that_ strange. I shook the thought off as irrelevant and kept talking. Even if he never realized the importance of this, it was still something Sasuke should know. "At times like this when you know you have heavy training or are on missions when you're not sure whether or not you'll need to act at a moment's notice you should stick to foods that are high in nutrients that break down easily, because their easier to digest."

I pulled the scroll out of my pouch and opened it. With a quick application of chakra and a small amount of smoke the ration bars appeared on top of it. "You can have these today but you'll need to bring your own from now on."

For a moment I didn't think he was going to accept but then his stomach growled again and he grabbed them with a quick 'thanks' before leaning against a training post and unwrapping them.

I pushed a few in Sakura's direction as well when I saw her looking longingly at them. After all, if you're hungry enough to be looking longingly at _ration bars_ then you definitely needed something to eat. They might be nutritious but that did not equate to tasting good.

Sakura thanked me but waved them off. "No thanks I'm on a diet."

I stared at her almost uncomprehendingly for a moment before I found my voice. "You're joking, right?" I mean come on, she was 12. She had to be joking.

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. "Why would I joke about something like this?"

I raised my arms in defeat and Sakura went over to sit next to Sasuke, although now I wasn't too sure if she was looking at him or at the food. With a sigh I sealed the rest of the bars back into the scroll and went back to reading.

The next few hours passed in relative peace and quiet which was just fine by me. Or at least it was quiet right up until Kakashi arrived. He walked up to use so nonchalantly that I didn't register he was there until he was right in front of us. "Morning everyone. Ready for your first day?"

Sakura jumped up and pointed at him as soon as she spotted him. "HEY, YOU'RE LATE!" And I was right there beside her just as annoyed and shouting just as loudly. I was expecting him to be late but we'd been here for over 5 hours. Even my patience has its limits.

He just smiled back at us. "Well a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way."

He actually used excuses like this? I felt my urge to face-palm come back just as strong as yesterday.

He cleared his throat and gestured for us to follow him. "Let's get started."

He led us next to the memorial stone and placed a small alarm clock on a block next to it. "Here we go. It's set to go off at noon." He then turned towards us brandishing a pair of bells. "You're assignment is very simple. You just have to take these bells from me. That's all there is to it. If you can't get a bell by noon you go without lunch. You'll be tied to those posts and you'll watch while I eat my lunch in front of you."

I wasn't positive but I thought I heard Sakura let out a little whimper at the prospect of missing another meal. However a moment later she perked back up. "Wait a minute there's three of us. How come there's only two bells?"

Kakashi smiled at her question and in a far too cheerful sounding voice said, "Well that way at least one of you is guaranteed to end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back to the Academy. Then again all three of you could flunk out to." He shrugged. "You can use any weapons or tools you have with you to try and get the bells. If you're not prepared to kill me you won't be able to take them."

I couldn't tell if it was because she didn't want to use weapons on our sensei or if it was the thought of using actual weapons in the first place, but Sakura looked uneasy at Kakashi's latest set of instructions. "Those weapons are too dangerous Sensei."

Kakashi just smiled at her. "If you don't want to use them you don't have to but that means you're odds of passing will fall even further." He turned to face all three of us. "Now, when I say 'start' we can begin.

I took a moment to look over my teammates and what I saw didn't exactly fill me with confidence. Sasuke's gaze was going back and forth between Kakashi and the bells. Sakura still looked uneasy, but after a glance at Sasuke she got a determined look in her eyes and started looking over our surrounding's. I don't think working together crossed either of their minds.

I suppressed a sigh. We had a long way to go if we wanted even a chance of passing.

"Get ready." Kakashi looked us over one last time before nodding. "And start!"

 **AN: Now before anyone panics just let me say that I'm not cutting Naruto from the story. He is a pivotal character and I've got plans for what he's going to be doing from here on out.**

 **And on a side note I have discovered that I have zero talent when it comes to drawing so those pictures I promised are going to take a bit longer than I thought they would.**


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 _Even if you fall flat on your face, you're still moving forward.-Victor Kiam_

The moment we heard Kakashi say the word 'start' we took off in different directions towards the trees. I kept track of Sasuke and Sakura as best I could, pushing my limited chakra sensing capabilities as far as they would go. Sasuke took off heading straight for the closest cover while Sakura was hot on his heels but veered off a little to the right.

She wanted to be close to him but she wasn't the smartest person in class for nothing. Huddling in a group was not a smart idea when you had no clue how strong your opponent is. Or maybe I was overestimating her and she just didn't want to risk having Sasuke yell at her. I didn't know her nearly well enough to try and guess at what she was thinking.

When I reached the tree line I kept going till I was deep enough into the underbrush that I had difficulty seeing the clearing and then started running along the edge away from my entry point. Against someone of Kakashi's level, odds are it wouldn't make a difference but while Kakashi was our opponent he wasn't our enemy so it wasn't likely that he was going to hunt us down, at least not right away, but I still needed to show that I could hide myself effectively. While teamwork was at the core of this test we also needed to show off our skills as Ninja.

I stopped about 100 feet away from where I started and jumped into a tree before zigzagging back in the direction I had come from, making sure to steer clear of where I had first entered the forest. A few seconds later, near the river that ran alongside the edge of the clearing, I stopped running and suppressed my chakra as best I could before carefully making my way closer to the clearing.

Suppressing my chakra was tricky at best. Chakra was made up of both physical and mental energy and was almost a living thing. It didn't _want_ to be compressed. It wanted to grow and expand and my own abnormally large reserves didn't help the process along at all. But I had been practicing controlling my chakra since before I could walk. It wasn't easy, not by any stretch of the imagination, but I had been able to suppress my chakra to the point where my parents couldn't sense for years. Not unless they were right on top of me anyways.

So no matter how good Kakashi was I was confident that even he wouldn't be able to sense me from as far away as across the clearing.

I stopped moving once the tree's started thinning out and I had Kakashi, the training posts and the Memorial Stone in view. Based on how they were moving before I lost track of them, Sasuke had done the same as me, backtracking and laying false trails before hiding. Sakura on the other hand, had been close behind Sasuke the entire time. Not following him step for step, but certainly within shouting distance at the very least. I made a mental note to talk to Sakura about that later, whether or not we passed. She probably wanted to be close enough to help Sasuke but if this had been a real fight than all she was doing was making their trail easier to follow by being so close to him. Working together did not necessarily mean being together especially if there was a predetermined plan. Not that we _had_ a predetermined plan but the point still stood.

Oh well. At the very least if she had been following Sasuke closely enough then she shouldn't have left an easy to follow trail either. Even if the overlapping trails kind of defeated the purpose of leaving a trail in the first place.

I mentally slapped myself and forced my mind to focus on the immediate situation. Correcting my teammate's flaws could come later, if we actually did become teammates.

From here on out it was going to be tricky. Sasuke was the furthest away from me with Sakura not too far away from him. We had no plan, no strategy and it seemed that I was the only one who wanted to try and work together. Well… Sakura probably wanted to work with Sasuke but since I was pretty sure he didn't want her help it was a moot point.

We were actually in a good position if you discounted the fact that it had been by coincidence and not by design. We were relatively well spaced out and Kakashi was almost dead center between the three of us. The problem was that Kakashi was on a whole other level, even when compared to other Jonin. He was already a prodigy before he was given the Sharingan and had the potential to become Hokage one day. He might already _be_ on that level. Even if we all attacked him at once there was no way we would be able to take the bells from him.

So I hid myself and kept an eye on him and waited for time to pass. I wasn't dumb enough to try and take him on one on one, but Sasuke would be more than willing to take those odds. Not that he was dumb, but he was impatient. He would until the last minute for an opening but if one didn't come than he was more than willing to try his luck anyway, especially if he thought it was his only chance.

And Kakashi was probably lazy enough to just sit around doing nothing for a few hours if we didn't go after him first. If we let time run out without even trying to go after the bells it would be an automatic failure and he won't have had to lift a finger.

But more than that I _needed_ Sasuke to be the one to instigate things. Right now he was probably aware that he couldn't take on Kakashi on his own but that he might have a chance if he could catch him off guard. If we wanted any chance to pass then my teammates needed to understand just how out of our league we were right now. If nothing else they might agree to work together out of necessity.

So I waited, bored but alert, for any movement from the rest of my team. And with less than twenty minutes on the clock, just as I was starting to get a little nervous about how much time was left, something finally happened.

Just not in the way that I expected.

Over that last our I had slowly moved closer to the tree line, since Kakashi looked so engrossed in his book, so that I'd be ready to move if something happened. One moment Kakashi was flipping to the next page and the next he was gone leaving behind nothing but a log from a nearby tree.

I stopped compressing my chakra, since doing so made it almost impossible to sense anyone, and rapidly started focusing my chakra sensing to find out where he was and then felt my blood run cold. I could easily sense his chakra because _it was right behind me._

I whirled around to try and put up a defense but barely had enough time to think ' _oh shit!_ ' before his leg connected with my gut, forcing the air from my lungs and sending me flying out into the clearing. As I rolled to a stop my only thought was to try and catch my breath. There was no way I'd be able to outrun him now that he was focusing on me and I wouldn't be able to put up a defense if I couldn't stand up. But between barely being able to breathe and the pain from the unexpected attack disrupting my chakra I could barely move.

A few seconds later I felt a shadow fall over me and I cracked open an eye to see him standing over me looking down at me with his signature smile. "Lessen one: Taijutsu. Did you really think you could pass just by hiding the whole time?"

I ground my teeth in frustration. So either his sensing is good enough to spot me when I'm compressing my chakra or reading that book was just a ploy and he was really observing us the whole time. Either way I had underestimated him.

My thought process was interrupted a moment later when a handful of shuriken slammed into Kakashi sending droplets of blood into the air. I'd have been worried about him, despite my frustration, if I hadn't felt the flair of chakra as he used another substitution jutsu, followed by a smaller burst as he placed a clone jutsu over the log to make it look like himself. A few seconds later the jutsu dispelled revealing a log loaded with shuriken and kunai. Forcing myself to my knees and then to my feet I expanded my sensing as far as it would go, not bothering to try and conceal my presence anymore. Kakashi knew where I was and if he wanted to come after me again I wouldn't be able to stop him.

I felt the spike of panic in Sasuke's chakra before it started moving deeper into the forest so fast I was sure Sasuke had to be sprinting. But it didn't matter how fast he was moving because I could feel Kakashi's chakra right behind him. And then had to suppress a sigh as I felt Sakura's chakra break from her hiding spot and run off in the wrong direction. She'd probably panicked when she lost track of Sasuke and took off to help him without thinking things through.

I really needed to have a chat with her about her obsession with Sasuke.

I took a few moments to catch my breath from Kakashi's surprise attack and then made a beeline for the trees making sure to head in the direction that Sasuke and Kakashi had gone, making sure to stay far enough away from their fluctuating chakra signature's, which I was positive meant that they were fighting. By the time I had got there the fight had long since come to an end but I had to give Sasuke credit. He wasn't even really a Genin yet, just an Academy graduate, but based on how long the fight had gone on for he had actually managed to hold his own against Kakashi.

Well maybe saying he held his own was a little too complimentary since I was also positive that he hadn't actually managed to land a single hit against Kakashi. But regardless the fact that he hadn't immediately lost against him spoke volumes for Sasuke's skills.

But even knowing that didn't make it any easier not to laugh when the only thing I could see of Sasuke above ground level was his head and a single arm that was working furiously to try and dig himself out of the ground.

I casually walked up to him as though this was an everyday occurrence. "So… what's up?" It took everything I had to keep myself from bursting into laughter.

"Shut up" was his less than elegant reply. Wow. He must be angrier than I thought. I hadn't seen Sasuke lose his composure like that in _years_. "Now stop standing there and come help me."

"No." As funny as the situation was if I could use it to my advantage I was going to. "Not unless you agree to work together instead of trying to fight him on your own."

He looked at me like I had suddenly grown a second head. "We can't. This is a contest."

"Look at what he did to you. To me. He _crushed_ both of us and he wasn't even trying. Do you really think we have _any_ chance of pulling this off if we don't work together?"

I could tell he was still on the fence about working together, but we were short on time and I couldn't wait for him to make up his mind so I sweetened the pot. "Look, if we manage to get the bells, one will automatically go to you, alright? That way no matter what happens, you're guaranteed to pass."

It was a little underhanded but we only had minutes left, if that and we _needed_ to work together if we were going to pass.

He looked down for a moment, and I could almost hear the cogs turning in his brain, and then back up at my face before nodding and holding out his one free arm. "Deal."

I grinned and shook his hand. "Great! That means our odds just went from none to slim."

Without letting go of his hand I pulled as hard as I could, and a few seconds later he was free of the ground and started brushing himself off.

"Now that that's taken care of lets go get Sakura." I made to start heading back towards the clearing but stopped when I saw the look on Sasuke's face. "What is it?"

He hesitated for a second before pointing out, "There's only two bells so if we get Sakura's help, won't we be right back where we started?"

I shrugged. "Maybe, but we've already figured out that, individually, we don't stand a chance against him, so if we want any hope at all of getting the bells then it's going to take all three of us."

He didn't look completely convinced but he didn't have anything else to say on the subject so instead of pressing the issue I just started running in the direction of the clearing. A few seconds later I heard Sasuke a few feet behind me.

We hadn't been that far away from the clearing so it didn't take us overly long to reach it. Instead of jumping right in we hunkered down near the edge and surveyed the situation as best we could. Kakashi was reading his book a few dozen yards away from us, near the memorial stone, and Sakura was nearby but something was wrong.

She was out in the open, on her knees with a glazed look in her eyes. "Genjutsu" Sasuke supplied in a quiet voice.

Damn. That would make things harder. I glanced at the clock on top of the memorial stone. I couldn't tell 100% from here but it looked like it was almost noon. We didn't have much time left.

What to do? What _could_ we do? I looked out over the clearing trying to see if anything jumped out at me or sparked an idea. My limited knowledge from the show was no help here, might not ever be any help ever again. Without Naruto then everything might be different-

Wait. That was it. I paused as the realization hit me.

I wasn't Naruto. But maybe I could borrow a page from his book.

"Sasuke, do you have any way of blocking Kakashi's sight for a few seconds?" I didn't know if this idea would work. It required both Sasuke and Sakura to play a part and we all had to trust each other to make it work or we would lose our chance.

But with so little time left on the clock it's not like we really had anything to lose.

Sasuke thought for a second before nodding. "Smoke bombs."

"Perfect" I replied. I dug into my equipment pouch and pulled out an exploding tag and handed it to him. "Throw this at the same time. If it makes him back up a little bit that's even better."

Sasuke took it and asked "You have a plan?"

I nodded, "Yep.

I looked at the clock again and grimaced. "Sasuke, I know we've only been on a team for less than a day, but there's not enough time left to go over every detail so I need you to trust me."

It seemed like he wanted to protest but after glancing in the clocks direction himself he nodded. "Alright. What do you need me to do?"

"Jump out and throw those at Kakashi. When they go off, get back to me as fast as you can. I'll be next to Sakura." We both knew that they wouldn't hit him. Kakashi was too fast for that.

But that was only the first step.

"Right then. Let's hope whatever your planning works." I felt his chakra tense next to me and a second later he jumped out and ran for Kakashi. I jumped out at the same time as he did, but unlike him I was making a beeline for Sakura.

The moment I got there I knew Sasuke was right. Just by the feel of her chakra alone, I could tell that Sakura was stuck in a genjutsu. I grabbed her shoulders and sent chakra into her at the same time as I heard the explosive note I gave Sasuke go off. Whatever genjutsu Kakashi had used on her couldn't have been very advanced because it became disrupted after only a few seconds and I felt her chakra return to normal.

Her eyes focused and she started mumbling, "Ryusei? What… what happened? How did you get here?" She was disoriented and trying to sort out her thoughts. "I remember hearing something and going to check what it was and then I saw-" Suddenly she jumped to her feet, "Sasuke! Sasuke's in trouble! We need to help him!"

I hadn't counted on this. Whatever genjutsu she was under Sasuke must have featured heavily, and not in a nice way. But we didn't have time to calm her down. Not even including the countdown timer that was ticking ever closer to noon, we were out in the open, totally exposed and the smoke bombs would only block Kakashi's sight for a short time.

Thankfully by then Sasuke, having finished his job had reappeared next to us. "That won't last for very long."

Sakura, her crush having come into her line of sight, looked as though she had seen a ghost. "Sasuke, you're ok! I thought that…" she trailed off, clearly recognizing that something wasn't adding up but unable to identify just what it was yet.

I felt a little bad for her, being stuck in whatever genjutsu Kakashi had cooked up and then waking up only to be immediately put in the center of an unknown situation. If we had more time I would have given her a few minutes to sort through everything before asking her to do anything. But we didn't so I had to work with what we did have. "Sakura can you make a clone of yourself and hold a Transformation Jutsu at the same time?"

She blinked at me owlishly, probably not understanding why I would ask her that right at this exact moment but answered my question all the same. "I think so, but holding two jutsu at the same time is difficult so I probably wouldn't be able to for long."

"It doesn't have to be for very long, just for ten seconds or so. Can you maintain them for that long?" My whole plan hinged on this so if she couldn't do it we were kind of dead in the water. But between what I could remember of the show, plus her results from class, I was fairly certain she could manage that much.

She looked confused. "Probably…"

"Perfect. Than can you do that right now? Make a clone and then transform into me?" Out of the corner of my eye I could see the smoke was beginning to dissipate. We were almost out of time.

She looked back and forth between me and Sasuke and her eyes widened as something finally clicked into place. "Wait. You want us to work together? But there are only two bells-"

Sasuke grunted in annoyance before cutting her off. "Just do what he says. We don't have time to explain."

Sakura looked a little hurt that Sasuke snapped at her but he was right. We really didn't have time. If it had been anyone else ordering Sakura around I think she may have argued rather than going along, but thankfully her fangirl tendencies were actually an asset right now. Without questioning him she started going through hand signs and a few seconds later a second Sakura shimmered into existence.

As Sakura turned into a carbon copy of me I readied my own transformation jutsu. I looked at Sasuke just as I finished the necessary hand signs. "Aim for the bells."

Then with a thought I focused my chakra and with a quiet murmur of 'Transformation Jutsu' my senses dulled and I felt my body shrink down to a fraction of its normal size. I felt myself fall towards the ground but a hand reached out and caught me before I hit anything.

I had transformed into a fuma shuriken. My plan was based off of Naruto and Sasuke's fight against Zabuza. I liked it because, while it required proper timing to pull off, it was simple and straightforward. Even if I hadn't had the time to tell Sasuke and Sakura all the details I was fairly confident that they could figure out what my plan was.

The only problem was that under the effects of the transformation jutsu, I had no way of knowing if what was happening. I hoped Sasuke would hurry because there was no way Kakashi would be fooled for long, if he was fooled at all. I could hear Sasuke saying something but in this state my senses were dulled and I couldn't make anything out clearly. If it wasn't for my chakra sensing I probably wouldn't be able to tell where anyone was.

Without warning I was suddenly _thrown_ right in Kakashi's direction. And I know that being thrown was the whole point of shuriken, but it wasn't until right that moment I actually realized just how fast shuriken moved. It was so disorienting that I almost forgot to cancel the jutsu at the last second.

Just as I drew level with Kakashi's chakra I cut the flow of chakra and the world flew back into focus amidst a puff of chakra smoke. Through the smoke I saw a glint of sunlight on metal and reached out.

My hand closed around something cold and metallic just as my momentum carried me past Kakashi. I hit the ground rolling trying to avoid injury as I slowly came to a stop right next to the poles that Kakashi had threatened to tie us to just as the alarm on top of the memorial stone went off.

 _Just under the wire. Gotta be better than that._

Once the world stopped spinning I sat up and looked down at my hand and saw a bell sitting in my palm. I grinned. I had actually managed to grab one of the bells! And then my grin faltered as I realized something. I had successfully acquired _only_ a single bell.

As this fact hit home I looked up and saw that both Kakashi and my teammates had walked over and were all looking at me. Kakashi smiled at me. "Well then Ryusei you managed to get one of the bells. Now what are you going to do with it?"

This was another part of the test, I was sure of it. There was no way I'd only make it away with one bell, not with how close they were to each other, which kind of shot the last part of my plan to pieces. I had been going to give one bell to each Sakura and Sasuke.

If Kakashi was anything like he was in the show then that meant that actually getting the bells was a moot point. This whole test was about working together. And I realized with a start that's what this was still about. He had tested us as a group, and while we had a shaky start, we'd managed to pull through at the end and work together. Now he was testing us as _individuals_.

It took me a moment longer to figure out that this next part was out of my hands. I had done everything I could to get us to work together but I couldn't control my teammates. And this next part was up to them.

"Here you go Sasuke. One bell as promised." I tossed it in his direction and flopped back down onto the ground. It was almost relaxing. There was still no guarantee that we would pass but I'd hedged our bets as much as I could. Whatever happened next there was nothing else I could do. My part in this was done.

Sasuke started down at the bell for a few moments, a look of uncertainty on his face. He _wanted_ to take it and supposedly guarantee passing, anyone could tell that. But he also hated receiving help from anyone. Knowing him he'd probably still consider it a failure even if this did net a pass from Kakashi. A few seconds later he sighed and tossed the bell to Sakura, who caught it with a startled yelp.

"Congratulations Sakura you've officially passed and become a Genin." Sasuke sounded sarcastic but I could tell it killed him to toss the bell away.

He sat down next to me leaning against the pole closest to where I was laying and shot me an annoyed look. "I can pass on my own. I don't need help from anyone."

I grinned in response, which caused him to look even _more_ annoyed. I had to suppress a laugh. Riling up Sasuke was actually kind of fun.

Sakura looked back and forth between me and Sasuke, Kakashi, and the bell in her hands. Then all of a sudden she walked up to Kakashi and presented him with the bell. "Sorry Kakashi-sensei, but if my teammates aren't going to pass than I'm not going to either. Looks like you'll just have to send all of us back to the Academy together."

Kakashi sighed in resignation but there was also something else beneath that. Pride? Or maybe satisfaction? It was too hard to tell and Kakashi was too good at controlling his emotions for me to figure it out before his expression morphed into a smile. "Well I guess I've got no choice. All that's left now is to say is: you pass!"

I shot up into a sitting position with a grin on my face, burying my own sigh of relief, and was greeted with the completely shocked expressions of my teammates.

Sakura was the first person to find their voice. "W-We passed? But how? I don't understand!"

"What do you think the purpose of this test was?" Kakashi asked patiently.

Sakura looked a little unsure of herself but gave the obvious answer. "To get the bells… right?"

Kakashi replied, "On the surface sure, that _is_ what the test is about. But think about it for a moment. There were three of you and only two bells."

I waited for a moment to see if either Sasuke or Sakura had the answer before speaking up. "Teamwork."

Kakashi smiled at me and nodded. "Yep. That's it. Teamwork"

I didn't even need to look at them to know that Sasuke and Sakura's faces were even more confused than before.

"You mean it's that simple?" was Sakura's indignant reply.

"Yes and no."

Okay now I was confused. The whole thing was supposed to be about working together. What else was there?

Kakashi blinked slowly before continuing. "I purposely pitted you against each other. With only two bells, at least one of you was guaranteed to fail. The test was to see if you could overcome that for the sake of the mission, to see if you would work together or break apart. A Genin should have a natural feel for teamwork. Of course, you need individual skills, but teamwork is the most important element of a shinobi. When individuals put themselves above the squad, this can lead to failure, or even death."

Kakashi led the three of us to the memorial stone before he started speaking again, his voice sounding quiet and somber. "Did you look at this stone? The names engraved on it? They are all Ninja who are honored as hero's in our village." He reached out and gently brushed his hand against the names. "A very special kind of hero. They were all killed in action. This is a memorial stone. The names of my closest friends are engraved here."

I had known about the teamwork aspect of the bell test but this left me feeling… uneasy. This was about more than just teamwork. At lot more. To put the squad, the village itself above your own life… to be willing to sacrifice yourself for the greater good… these were concepts that I had never even considered before.

To work together, getting stronger to defend the village was one thing but to actually be willing to die for the person standing next to you? I had already died once and while the thought of dying again didn't scare me, the thought of losing everything and everyone I held dear, for the second time, _did_.

"So" Kakashi said, turning to us, chasing away the gloomy atmosphere that was left in the wake of his speech. "Now that I've explained my part in this test, you get to explain yours."

It was Sasuke who answered him this time. "What do you mean?"

"At the beginning it looked as though the thought of working together didn't even cross your minds. So what was it that made you decide to come at me the way you did?"

Sasuke just shrugged. "Ryusei was the one that convinced us that we had to work together." I sent a silent thank you to him for not saying that I basically had to bribe him to get him to agree to work with me.

Kakashi looked at me expectantly. I scratched the back of my head sheepishly before explaining. "You'd already proven that your way stronger than us so I just figured that working together was the only way we'd have even a chance of getting the bells. We could figure out who was going to pass and fail once we actually had them."

Kakashi kept looking at me for a few seconds and I was hoping he wouldn't ask how I came up with the plan we had used. Because I was pretty certain that I wasn't going to be able to come up with an explanation that made sense on the spot.

But a few moments later he turned away and I breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Kakashi- I suppose he was officially Kakashi-sensei now- smiled at the three of us. "The exercise is over. Everyone passes. Squad seven starts its first mission tomorrow!"

 **AN: I may have to go back and change a few parts of the intro chapters. When I first started BTW I was going to make Ryusei more calm and collected, sort of a steady rock in a sea of insanity situation. But I'm having more fun writing him as an instigator, as the one starting the trouble, so some of what I introduced in the earlier chapter's doesn't match his current personality.**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

 _When we are no longer able to change a situation we are challenged to change ourselves.-Victor E. Frankl_

After giving us a time and place to meet the next day for our first official mission- and in no way, shape, or form did I expect the time to be accurate- Kakashi-sensei left in a quiet burst of chakra smoke, leaving the three of us on our own.

Even taking into account how long he had made us wait, it was still relatively early and I wasn't sure what to do with the rest of the day. I had been so fixated on how I would get the three of us to just pass the bell test that I hadn't given any thought to what I would do after it was over. Between this and my realization the day before about my lack of plans for the future I was starting to understand that smarmy saying about not seeing the forest for the trees.

I glanced at my teammates and saw them both standing around not saying anything, evidently unsure how to proceed now that the immediate danger of failing was gone. Given that less than ten minutes ago passing had seemed like a long shot at best I couldn't blame them.

Maybe this was just Kakashi-sensei's way of telling us to start thinking for ourselves? Regardless there was no real point in just standing around here anymore so I turned to face Sasuke and Sakura and asked, "Hey you guys wanna go and grab some lunch? To celebrate us officially becoming a team?"

It was a long shot that either would say yes but the lack of team bonding had played a major role in Naruto's- in my team's problems and since, for better or worse, I was stuck on this team I figured it couldn't hurt to try.

Sasuke just frowned and started walking away. "Not right now. I've got work to do."

Sakura looked like she wanted to accept my offer especially since I was fairly certain I could still hear her stomach growling but after a quick glance at Sasuke's retreating form she shook her head, before heading in that direction herself. "Sorry, I can't make it today. I've got somewhere important I need to be."

Well that was… entirely expected to be honest. If things continued like this then I probably wouldn't have to bother worrying about Akatsuki. Odds are we would all be dead long before they became a problem.

Well, that was a worry for another day. Right here and now I was going to go and get some lunch because whether or not my teammates had turned me down I was still hungry, and if I was going to have to face the nightmare that my time on Squad seven was sure to become, than I wasn't going to do it on an empty stomach.

I made my way away from the training grounds back towards the village proper, looking for somewhere I could get some lunch. I was tempted to just head home and ask my mom if she could throw something together for me but I'd had a stressful few days and wanted to spoil myself a little. Or, in other words, I wanted to find the most calorie packed heart attack inducing food I could and stress eat until I couldn't move.

I eat when I'm feeling stressed. Deal with it. Honestly if it hadn't been for my training to become a Ninja I'd probably weigh double what I do now.

Halfway to my preferred diner, a BBQ joint owned by the Akimichi Clan whose name I could never remember, a bright orange blur zoomed past me. I had to do a double take to be sure but there was no mistaking that outfit. Or the person it belonged to.

Naruto ran halfway up the next block before ducking into a stall that read 'Ichiraku Ramen' on the side. I hesitated for a moment before changing direction and following him. Ramen wasn't my preferred stress food but it was still pretty good and I wanted to talk to Naruto besides, so that tipped the scales away from BBQ and towards ramen.

A minute later I ducked under the flaps the decorated the opening to the stall and sat down a seat away from Naruto. Not because I was nervous, but it seemed like he needed the room, the way empty ramen bowls were piling up. How he managed to eat all that in such a short amount of time was a mystery to me.

How exactly was I supposed to start this conversation? Should I even have it in the first place? I mean no matter what the Naruto told me it wasn't like knowing would make any difference in the long run. The teams were set and the spot that should have belonged to Naruto now belonged to me. No scrap of information would change that fact but I needed to know, if for no other reason than my own peace of mind.

Naruto was in this situation because of me, whether he knew it or not, and I wanted to make sure that he was doing okay. There were a number of people who probably wouldn't mind having a wayward Jinchuriki at their beck and call. And if my presence had somehow screwed Naruto over I wasn't sure what I would do.

I was pulled from my thoughts when a young woman with long brown hair, dark eyes, and a wide smile on her face approached me and said, "Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen! What would you like to order?"

I glanced up at the menu and browsed for a moment until something jumped out at me. Or multiple somethings, as the case may be. "I'll take three bowls, one miso, one beef and one chicken."

Even as far as stress eating went, three bowls was pushing it, but I hadn't had ramen in a while, and I vaguely remembered that I liked the chicken and beef flavored variates and I was curious how ramen prepared in a restaurant differed from the instant kind. The miso flavored was more of an experiment than anything else but I also knew that it was Naruto's favorite flavor. And sure enough a moment later he spoke up.

As the woman who I assumed was Ayame turned away to prepare my order Naruto said, "Hey Ryusei! I didn't know you came here too! Isn't the ramen here just awesome?!"

I glanced over at him to respond but my eyes were drawn to the literal _tower_ of bowls he had created in slight awe. How did he eat so much, so fast? And where did he put it all? It shouldn't be physically possible to consume so much ramen and still be alive…

I decided to ignore the impossibilities of Naruto's stomach for the time being. I was a man on a mission and needed some answers. "I don't really come here all that often, but every now and then ramen is pretty good."

"Pretty good!? It's the food of the gods!" I leaned back a little at the look of outrage on Naruto's face. How exactly were you supposed to answer someone when they said that? I was saved from having to come up with a response when Teuchi arrived with my order. And, unsurprisingly, another order for Naruto.

I watched Naruto dig into his food with gusto. I ate my own at a more sedate pace trying to think up a way to bring up the reason I had come here in the first place. In the end I just decided to swing for the fences and ask him outright. "Hey Naruto, can I ask you something?"

He took a moment to slurp up the last of his noodles before he turned towards me and smiled. "Sure! What can the most awesome Leaf Genin in existence do for you?"

I tried my absolute hardest to not roll my eyes at that and mostly succeeded. I liked Naruto well enough, and I had a mountain of respect for him for never giving up, but his attitude really made it hard to take him seriously at times. I was fervently hoping that whatever he was going to be getting up to know that he wasn't on a squad would help curb it a little. Without Sasuke around to do it for him someone needed to.

But that wasn't why I was here. I took a moment to organize my thoughts and went the most straight-forward method I could. "What did your special assignment turn out to be?"

There. Couldn't get more straight-forward than that.

Naruto just stared at me blankly for a few moments. "Huh? What special assignment?"

Evidently I was wrong. I decided to try again.

"You know yesterday after team placements? Iruka-sensei told you to report to the Hokage's office…" I trailed off hoping he would get the message. Thankfully a few seconds later a lightbulb seemed to go off and his face lit up.

"Oh yeah, that. Turns out that I really impressed a lot of people by learning a Jutsu from this old scroll that Mizuki-sensei asked me to steal. He said it was another graduation exam." Okay, I had guessed as much based on the alarms from a few days ago but that didn't really answer my question. Luckily Naruto wasn't anywhere near being done talking. "But it turns out he was lying to me." He grinned a little cheekily after that. "Sorry but I can't tell all the details about what happened. The Hokage told me to keep it under wraps. You know super-secret stuff that can't be told to just anyone and all that."

I nodded along, letting him think I cared about the minor details. I could already piece together what had happened but that wasn't what I needed to know. "Alright, fair enough. But what did the Hokage tell you after that?"

He looked a little put out that I wasn't more interested in the supposedly super-secret stuff he was hinting at, but continued his story anyway. "After he made sure I knew to keep what happened a secret he told me that a famous Shinobi wanted to give me special training. I mean at least they said he was famous. I had to take their word for it since I'd never heard of him before."

I wanted to ask outright who he was talking about but while Naruto probably wouldn't think twice about it, I didn't want him mentioning it to anyone. The last thing I needed was people wondering why I had a special interest in Naruto's trainer.

I suddenly felt Naruto's mood take a turn for the worse as he started to scowl. "But it's actually just this old pervert! They told me to meet him near the bathhouse, which I thought was kinda strange, but I figured that he must of had a reason to be there so I went out to find him. Turns out he was just peeping on the woman's side!"

Naruto went back to his ramen muttering under his breath as he did so. I wasn't certain but I thought I heard the words pervy-sage somewhere in his mutterings. Well that confirmed one thing at the very least. For whatever reason Jiraiya had shown up far earlier than expected and had taken Naruto under his wing months before I thought he would.

"If he's so bad than why did you agree to let him train you?" Despite my interference Naruto wasn't all that different from what I could remember, so I had sneaking suspicion as to the reason already. But since he was in such a chatty mood I figured he would fill me in himself. And I wasn't disappointed.

After he finished drinking the last of the broth from his latest bowl of ramen he leaned towards me conspiratorially and whispered, "Cause he's really strong! I ran into this kid before I met him and the brat wouldn't leave me alone. He asked me to train him cause I managed to defeat the Hokage-" Wait what? "- and it turns out the kid was actually his grandson. After he finished learning my ultimate technique-"

I held up my hand to interrupt him. "Sorry but I've got to ask; what technique did you teach him, exactly?"

He grinned at me and said, "My Sexy Jutsu of course! I created it all on my own! Wanna see it?"

"…Maybe later." I'd almost forgotten about that technique. Well, technique was a bit of a strong word in this case but I wanted Naruto to finish his story so I didn't say anything.

"Anyways after he mastered it we went to confront his sensei, who just happened to be at the bathhouse yelling at my trainer. I mean, I didn't know he was my trainer yet. At first I thought he was just some old guy. And then Konohamaru called his sensei out and blindsided the guy!" Naruto paused for a moment and wiped away a tear. I didn't know why. Maybe it was pride. I didn't really want to know.

A few seconds later he frowned. "But the guy must have been made out of stronger stuff than I thought cause he withstood my students attack! He looked like he was gonna yell at us, but then the old guy started shouting something about perfection. I didn't really get what he was talking about." Which, all things considered, was probably a good thing. "Anyways when Ebisu- that's Konohamaru's sensei by the way- tried to attack him for being indecent, he summoned this giant toad and totally one-shot him!"

He nodded once in determination "So I'll let him train me. Even if he is a pervert."

Naruto glanced around us a few times checking to see if anyone had heard him. Apparently satisfied that no one was around he stood and gave me the most serious expression I had ever seen on his face. "But don't let anyone know I said that."

I frowned a little at that. Of course Jiraiya was strong. He wasn't one of the Sanin for nothing after all. And it's not exactly like that was a secret. "Is there some reason you don't want me to tell anyone?"

Raising his voice dramatically Naruto responded, "If he hears that I actually praised him than I'll never hear the end of it!"

Ah. Well that's not the worst of reasons, I guess.

After taking a few steps out into the street he hesitated for a moment before turning back to face me, a slightly guarded expression on his face. "Hey… do you think… maybe we could meet up for ramen again sometime? I mean only if you want to, that is."

It was obviously his awkward attempt at asking if I wanted to be his friend and while Naruto and I had never really clicked, I didn't hate his company. Which was honestly more than can be said for most of my other classmates. And more than that, this would give me a chance to keep an eye on him. The future was uncertain at the best of times, even for someone like me who had a rough idea of what was going to happen. And the one thing I was certain about was that the world was still going to need Naruto, even if he wasn't on Squad seven anymore.

I nodded in response to his question. "Sure, the ramen here's not half bad."

For a moment it looked like he wanted to argue the value of ramen but happiness apparently won out because his face morphed into a grin a few seconds later. "Great! I'll see you later than!"

And with that he took off running rapidly disappearing into the midday crowds. As I watched Naruto walk away I felt a weight leave my shoulders, a weight that had been there since I first heard that I would be taking his spot on Squad seven. It wasn't caused just by my own uneasiness about what changes this was going to cause to future events, but also about what would happen to Naruto personally. If he wasn't placed on a squad then there were a whole slew of people who might try and take advantage of that. If my actions had somehow delivered him into the hands of Danzo for example…

But thankfully I could at least put this particular worry to rest. He was going to be training with Jiraiya and even if it did sound as though they had gotten off to a rocky start he would be safe under his watch, at least for the time being. Ultimately, this probably wouldn't have too great an impact on the really important things, despite the fact that it had caught me off guard. Naruto was still the Nine Tails Jinchuriki after all. Akatsuki was still going to try and capture him and he would still be at the forefront of things to come regardless of whether or not he was on a team.

Oh well. I'd worry about that later. For the moment I had more immediate concerns. I turned back towards the counter and pulled my second bowl of ramen forward eagerly. What can I say? Naruto was right about this place. The ramen here was _good_.

After I finished lunch I lazily made my way home, intent on relaxing for the rest of the day. Sure I could probably train or do something productive but between passing Kakashi-sensei's test and my discussion with Naruto I felt that I had accomplished enough for the day.

When I got home however, something unexpected was waiting for me. Both my parents were sitting at the kitchen table talking quietly amongst themselves, but stopped when I entered the room. They looked at each other for a moment before my Dad turned to me and said, "Well Ryusei, don't keep your mother and I in suspense. Did you pass?"

I nodded. "Yeah I did. It was a close thing but my team pulled together at the end and we managed to pass."

He and my mother shared a look before turning back to me with a small smile on his face. "That's a relief."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "What, you didn't think I could do it?"

He raised his hands in a placating gesture. "No of course I knew you could pass. It's just that your sensei has a… a reputation." He frowned a little and shook his head. "But that's not what we wanted to talk to you about."

As they stood my mother turned towards me and gestured at me to follow them. "Come this way Ryusei. There's something we need to show you."

I followed them outside our house and was surprised when they lead me to the back of the clan compound, to a section that hardly anyone ever went to. We ended up in front of an enormous locked building, easily the largest on the compound that to the best of my knowledge had never been unlocked in my lifetime. A little apprehensively I watched as my Dad unlocked it and both of my parents slowly, almost reverently, placed a hand on each door and pushed it open, leading me inside.

And when I got inside I understood why. There in the back of the room, stood a set of blue armor with a white furred collar on one stand, and a set of red armor surrounded by weapons on another, both in immaculate condition. The armor of Hashirama and Tobirama Senju, the first and second Hokage.

After taking a moment to study the armor my Dad went off to the side of the room which was lined with scrolls. It took me a moment to realize what this place was. It was the clan Archive. It was the place where our clan's relics and all the important information we had gathered throughout the years was stored. I was beyond curious, both as to what my Dad was getting and why I was needed. I wasn't even sure if I was allowed in here.

After a few moments he turned around and presented me with a scroll. I reached out and, very carefully, took it from his hands. Whatever this was it was clearly important and I didn't want to damage it. I looked at him for a moment and he gestured that I should open it. I did and was shocked at what I saw. The entire thing was filled with jutsu, but not just any jutsu. Wood Style Jutsu. Handwritten accounts of how to use each Jutsu, the hand seals needed to perform them and what they were best used for. It took me a moment to find my voice, but when I did I asked "Is… is this what I think it is?"

My mother nodded in response. "That is a handwritten list of every jutsu the first Hokage created using Wood Style, to be passed on to any of the clan who awaken our Kekkei Genkai." My Father stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. "As the very first to wield Wood Style since Hashirama, you have more of a right to that scroll than any other." I tore my eyes away from the treasure trove of information in front of me and looked up to meet my parent's eyes.

I tried to speak, to thank them, to say _anything_ but my words were failing me. The sheer value of what they were giving me, of what they were trusting me with, was beyond belief. "Other clans have oaths and traditions for their children when they come of age but not the Senju. We have always believed that actions speak louder than words, and you have earned the right to be trusted with this." Their smiles grew as they looked down at me, a look of disbelief on my face. "Congratulations."

 **AN: Okay so, the Holidays are finally over and my relatives have all gone back to their own homes. Hopefully now I can get back on a regular update schedule.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

* * *

 _Nothing in the world is harder than convincing someone of an unfamiliar truth.-Kvothe_

* * *

I took a deep breath as I stepped out of my house, filling my lungs with crisp morning air, the cold helping to wake me up. It was still mostly dark out, with only a hint of light on the horizon to the east but I needed to get moving. As much as I wanted to go back inside and go to sleep I didn't. I was on the clock and couldn't afford to waste time.

That was the only reason I was heading to our teams meeting spot early, despite the fact that I knew Kakashi-Sensei wouldn't show up until much later than he had told us. I needed as much time as possible to train and if that meant losing a bit of sleep then that was what I was going to have to deal with.

I needed to start training in Wood Style Jutsu's as soon as possible. I'd looked through the scroll my parents had given me and had been astounded at just how versatile the various techniques where. The show had shown little beyond sheer power in combat, not even touching on just how useful it was at so many other aspects of being a Ninja.

I was years away from being able to use the Jutsu's that had earned the First Hokage the moniker God of Shinobi, assuming I was even capable of reaching that level, but there were other techniques that should be within reach. There were so many applications even among the basic Jutsu's that I could fully understand why so many people had been afraid to face Hashirama Senju in combat.

I arrived at the training grounds a few minutes later, and set my bag against one of the training posts, sitting down against the one next to it. After making myself comfortable I grabbed a handful of dirt. 'Time to get to work.' I thought.

I wish I could jump right into mastering my Kekkei Genkai but before I could do that I needed to master the different changes in chakra nature. I already had water figured out, that meant that mastering earth was next on the list.

The thing about earth is that all earth is made up of the same material. The exact composition might vary but generally speaking they share the same basic make up and the same properties. That's why you could use the same Earth Jutsu almost anywhere and it would give the same results.

That was the reasoning behind this exercise. A handful of sand was made up of the same components as a stone. The only difference was the bonds between the particles. Sand had very weak bonds and broke apart with ease, while stone had extremely strong bonds and was just as difficult to break down. What I was trying to do was increase the strength of the bonds in the dirt, to turn the clump in my hands into solid stone.

I closed my eyes in concentration as I tried to get my chakra to do what I wanted it to. Learning to change my chakra nature the first time had been difficult, but this was even harder. Earth based chakra was directly opposed to water based chakra and forcing mine to change its nature to the opposite of what it was normally was the last thing it wanted to do.

But this was something I _needed_ to learn so there was no way I was going to give up.

* * *

"What are you doing?" a voice called from the edge of the clearing. I cracked open an eye and saw Sasuke making his way over, for once no Sakura in sight.

"Training." I answered simply.

I looked down at my hand and I saw a solid block of stone sitting in my palm. I squeezed the block only for it to crumble apart in my hands, the same as every other time I had tried it, but I smiled all the same. Maybe it was my imagination but it had seemed like it had taken more effort than when I had started.

"Without success for the moment." I said as I stood up, brushing my pants off as I did so. "But I'm getting there."

Sasuke just hnn'd in response.

I rubbed my chin in thought. If Sasuke was here that meant that it was close to the time Kakashi-sensei told us to meet up, so there was still a few hours until he would actually be here. What to do until then?

"You know when Sakura's going to get here?" He shook his head and I sighed. I was hoping we could use the time in the mornings before Kakashi-sensei arrived to grow closer and stronger as a team. But it's not like there weren't other things we could do.

I turned to Sasuke with a grin on my face. "Wanna spar?"

He raised an eyebrow in response, before smirking back at me. "Sure."

And just like that we were both raring to go. Sasuke because I knew he wouldn't turn down an opportunity to get in some training and me because I wanted to know just which one of us had the advantage without the restrictions academy sparring used.

We squared off from each other across the clearing, both of us waiting for the other to make the first move. And since it had been my idea I decided to kick things off. I channeled chakra into my limbs and shot forward faster than I ever had in the Academy.

Not one to back down from a fight, Sasuke rushed forward a moment later and met me halfway. We exchanged a few quick strikes just feeling each other out, until I blocked one of his punches instead of just dodging, something I never would have been able to do without chakra enhanced strength. Caught off guard he didn't see my other arm until it was too late to stop.

My punch connected with his jaw and he flew backwards. His hands hit the ground and he used the momentum to flip back and put some distance between us, righting himself as he did so. When he came to a stop he reached up and rubbed his jaw, not taking his eyes off me.

"You've been holding back." It wasn't a question.

I smiled back at him, raised my fists and motioned for him to come at me again. He obliged, only this time he wasn't holding back either.

Our fight resumed but now the gloves were off. We traded a furious set of blows back and forth, both of us trying to get the upper hand and failing. I almost thought we were on equal footing until he managed to slip past my defenses and land a punch square in my gut, the blow staggering me.

He had the upper hand and we both knew it. I tried to by some time by taking a backhanded swing at his head, hoping that it would force him to retreat. Instead, he dodged by dropping backwards and kicking straight up, his foot connecting with my jaw sending me into the air. Not giving me a chance to recover he grabbed my ankle and threw me across the clearing. When I hit the ground I started rolling and just barely managed to stop myself in time to avoid falling into the river.

Now I was the one with a sore jaw. Hell, if I hadn't been enhancing my muscles that kick could have very easily broken my neck.

I looked up to see Sasuke standing a few yards away from me, rapidly going through a set of hand signs. I knew what Jutsu he was using and I didn't have time to think whether or not I should dodge. There wasn't enough time for that. I brought my hands up, readying my own Jutsu hoping that I could complete it fast enough.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

"Water Style: Water Wall Jutsu!" Thankfully I was next to a source of water and that cut down on the time and energy I needed. Streams of water from the river shot up from behind me forming a wall between me and Sasuke just in time to absorb the impact from Sasuke's fireball.

When the two techniques collided steam billowed out obscuring Sasuke from view and I took off at an angle to get away from the river and closer to our starting point. While it would make my water jutsu harder to use I only knew the one defensive jutsu so far and if I got into a position were all I could do was defend than I'd already lost.

I skidded to a stop and looked back at the slowly dissipating cloud of steam. As it slowly dissipated I could see something forming from in the mist. I blinked in confusion. A log?

'Replacement Jutsu!' I thought suddenly and started looking around frantically trying to spot where he'd gone. I wasn't fast enough to try and find him with my chakra sensing yet so I didn't bother trying.

Suddenly a hail of shuriken and kunai came flying out of the trees and I barely had time to dodge. Sasuke burst from the trees a moment later taking advantage of my distraction to try and end the fight.

I flew through the hand signs for a replacement jutsu of my own, completing it just before Sasuke's fist made contact. I appeared in the middle of the clearing, having used one of the training posts instead of a random tree.

I heard a loud crack and turned around in time to see Sasuke land among the splinters of what used to be a training post. He turned towards me, a smoldering glare on his face, the complete opposite of the grin I could feel on mine.

What can I say? This was the most fun I'd had in a while.

We both drew a Kunai and charged, ready to resume the spar when a shrill scream stopped us both in our tracks.

"What are you two doing?!"

As one, both Sasuke and I turned in the direction of the shout and saw Sakura stomping towards us, a frown on her face. When she reached us she drew to her full height and looked at us disapprovingly. I think she was trying to be intimidating. It may have worked on someone like Naruto but unfortunately for her, all I saw was a kid trying to act like an adult.

'Which is exactly what she is to be honest.' I frowned a little at that. We may have still been kids, but we were also Ninja, expected to live and die in service to our village. Sakura may be trying to act like an adult but before too long it wouldn't be an act. With everything that was going to happen she, along with every other new Genin was going to be have to grow up fast.

"Ryusei! Are you listening to a word I'm saying?"

I wasn't but it's not like I was actually going to admit that to her. "Of course I was. Please continue."

She glared at me a moment longer before addressing us both. "The both of you should know better than to use real weapons in a spar. There too dangerous! There's a reason we weren't allowed to use them in the Academy!"

Sasuke just scoffed. "Kakashi said we were allowed to use them."

I twirled my Kunai around a finger. "Besides the Academy rules stopped applying the moment we graduated."

Sakura looked livid. "Of all the dumb irresponsible-"

She cut herself off a moment later and looked to Sasuke. "I expect this kind of behavior out of Ryusei but you should know better-"

"Shut up Sakura!" Well then. It seemed as though Sasuke had reached the end of his rope.

Sakura looked as though Sasuke had physically struck her but recovered quickly. "Do you really just expect me to stand here and watch as you cut yourselves to ribbons?"

She does not back down, I'll give her that much. The only problem was that Sasuke wasn't all that good at backing down either.

He matched her glare with one of his own. "If it bothers you then don't watch! But this is our fight so stay out of it!"

Without another word he stalked off, leaving Sakura standing there dumbstruck. A moment later she shook herself out of her daze and started walking off after him.

After spending so many years trying to get Sasuke to open up I had become quite adept at reading his moods and right now he needed to be left alone. If either Sakura or I forced the issue then we would just be making the situation worse.

So before she had a chance to take more than two steps I called out, "Hey Sakura!"

She paused and looked over her shoulder at me. "What?" She bit out with a scowl on her face.

Yeah, if she went and tried to talk to Sasuke while he was in one of his moods with that tone of voice nothing good would come of it.

"How come you're getting so worked up over this? I mean, it's not like we were actually trying to hurt each other, beyond what normally happens in a spar anyways." Hopefully I could convince her to let this go, because after showing just how much I'd been holding back Sasuke would want to spar again before too long, and if Sakura tried to interrupt again he wouldn't be so forgiving.

"Why am I getting so worked up?" She turned to face me fully and placed her hands on her hips. "I got here just in time to see the training grounds destroyed, and you two looking like you're about to kill each other, that's why!"

I glanced around the field and raised an eyebrow. It wasn't _that_ bad. There was only one training post destroyed. And a large section of grass had been scorched black. And kunai and shuriken were littered everywhere… okay so at a glance it didn't look good.

"Well, I'd hardly say we destroyed the place…" I turned back towards Sakura, scratching the back of my head a little sheepishly. "But we may have gone a little overboard."

She just kept glaring at me.

"Besides, you know Sasuke and I would've stopped before we hurt each other too badly."

She crossed her arms and adopted the same disapproving look from before. "That's all well and good, but it's still too dangerous, and if I catch you two doing this again I'm going to tell Kakashi-sensei."

She was going to tell on us? I rubbed my temples trying to keep my frustration down. That was such a childish response that it wasn't even funny. Sakura might have the best book smarts out of everyone in our class but she had no clue what the real world was like.

How could I explain this in a way she would understand?

"Sakura, I've got a question for you." I decided to come at this from a different angle.

She unfolded her arms and looked at me quizzically. "A question?"

I nodded and held up the kunai still in my hand. "What is the purpose of a Kunai?"

I needed to be straightforward with her. I actually liked Sakura, despite her fangirl habits and her tendency to act bossy. We weren't what you would call friends, but we were amicable enough and this was something she needed to learn regardless.

She drew her eyebrows together in contemplation. "A Kunai's… purpose?"

I shook my head. "No, actually let's go a little more fundamental than that. What is the purpose of _any_ weapon?" Her frown became more pronounced at my words.

"Too protect others, right?" she said, sounding unsure of herself.

"Are you asking me or telling me?"

"Telling you!" And this time I could hear the resolve in her voice. I was almost proud of her, except that her answer was unbearably naïve.

I smiled a little sadly. In a perfect world she should be allowed to keep that childish naivety for as long as possible. But that wasn't the world we lived in.

"The purpose of any weapon, of every weapon is to end the life of someone else." I looked into her eyes and finished the thought. "So what does the fact that we use them signify?"

Her eyebrows scrunched up a little before she gasped and I saw realization dawn on her features. "You don't mean-"

I nodded before she finished her question.

Her eye's widened a little and she shook her head. "That's not true! It's our job to defend our village, not- not to kill people!"

"And how exactly do you plan on defending the village without fighting?" My words stopped her in her tracks.

"I'm not saying that you need to jump to taking a life as the first option. In fact you should only resort to killing after you've exhausted every other possibility." I looked her in the eye to make sure she was listening to me. "But you need to be aware that it is an option. And sometimes it's going to be your only option."

She opened her mouth, looking like she was about to protest again so I cut her off. "Did you really think we were learning how to wield kunai and shuriken, how to use jutsu, how to _fight_ , just for self-defense?"

She faltered under my glare so I pressed the issue, driving my point home.

"It probably won't happen for a while, but sooner or later we are going to be put in a position where it's kill or be killed. You might not want to take a life, but if it's them or us are you really going to stand there and let them kill you just because you don't want any blood on your hands?" She was starting to look a little green so I backed off. We might not have all the time in the world but there was no need to dump all the bad stuff on her plate in one sitting.

"It's fine to say that this is dangerous and we could get hurt, but that's what we signed up for the day we decided to become Ninja. Eventually were going to wind up facing an enemy who's just as skilled as we are, or maybe even one a lot stronger than us, who won't be holding back." She was looking at the ground in thought and I hoped this was sinking in. "So despite the danger, we need this training. And at least here it's in a controlled environment where we can get help if we really need it." I tacked on that last bit to try and help calm her down.

"Tomorrow morning, I'm going to ask Sasuke for another spar, and just so you know it's going to be just as violent as it was today. And you're free to join in if you want." I really was hoping she would accept. She needed to start taking this more seriously.

She looked up at me uncertainty and nodded, no longer green but still looking a little pale. "I'll- I'll think about it."

She walked away and I let her go. This was a lot for a kid to absorb. It was just bad luck that she had ended up on a team with both Sasuke and I on it. Of all the graduates we were the most experienced when it came to the darker side of being a Ninja.

"Did you really mean everything you said to her?" I looked over and saw Sasuke standing next to me. I hadn't heard him walk up.

I nodded. "Every word."

He didn't say anything and just hnn'd in response.

I barked out a quick laugh. "Sasuke, you really need to expand your vocabulary."

He shrugged noncommittedly and asked, "You wanna finish our spar?"

I thought about if for a moment before checking my chakra levels. They weren't that depleted and I wasn't too worried about what kind of mission we'd get but there were D-ranks that you didn't want to do tired.

I thought about it for a moment longer before shaking my head. "I don't know what kind of mission we'll be doing so I'd rather not use up too much chakra."

He nodded in response. "Rematch tomorrow then?"

I smiled back at him. "You got it."

Sasuke went back to sit by himself and Sakura still looked like she didn't want to talk to anyone. Not exactly what I'd call productive team bonding time but it was an improvement over yesterday.

That was actually kind of sad now that I thought about it.

I went over to my pack, pocketing my kunai as I did so, and pulled out a book. I didn't want to work on my nature transformation in front of them just yet so now was as good a time as any to catch up on a little reading.

* * *

 **AN: This chapter's a little shorter than usual but it felt like a good spot to end it.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

 _There are good people who are dealt a bad hand by fate and bad people who live long, comfortable, privileged lives. A small twist of fate can save or end a life; random chance is a permanent, powerful player in each of our lives, and in human history as well.-Jeff Greenfield_

* * *

"Good morning everyone!" I looked up to see Kakashi-sensei leaning against the lone tree in the center of the training ground. "Sorry I'm late but I was helping an old lady cross the street."

Both Sakura and I leapt to our feet and shouted "You liar!"

I glanced over at Sakura in mild surprise. After our talk she had seemed to be in a gloomier mood than usual. A few hours to herself looked to have shaken her out of it.

Maybe what I'd told her had sunk in. Or, more than likely, she had rationalized away what I'd said. But that was fine. I didn't expect to sway her over to my way of thinking after only one conversation.

Kakashi-sensei either found our reaction's amusing or didn't care about them because he didn't react to it at all. "Alright then, today we're going to be going on our first mission. Let's go to the Hokage's Tower."

I didn't know whether to be pleased or annoyed. On one hand I was bored and wanted to actually do something other than just sit here and let time pass. On the other hand I knew what to expect from most D-rank missions and wasn't sure if they would be better or worse than boredom.

In the end there was nothing I could do about it either way, so I placed my book in my pouch and went to grab my bag.

"Alright, finally!" Sakura exclaimed.

Sasuke just grunted like usual but it did sound more pleased than normal.

I had to shake my head at their enthusiasm. They were going to be so disappointed. But I didn't say anything. I was too busy picturing the look they'd have on their faces when they found out the truth.

We made our way over to the mission's office at Kakashi-sensei's average speed, so about as fast as a snail on a slow day. I didn't care overmuch but I could see the way that it was grating on Sasuke and Sakura's nerves.

When we finally did get to the mission's office I watched with amusement as my prediction came true. As the Hokage read off a list of possible missions we could take Sasuke's eyebrow kept twitching which was his way of saying he would rather be anywhere else. And as for Sakura, she was openly gaping in disbelief, although to her credit she schooled her features pretty fast.

'God I wish I had a camera.' I thought to myself. 'That would have made a great picture.'

Seeing as neither one of my teammates looked like they were up to the task of talking at the moment, and with Kakashi-sensei looking as though he wasn't even paying attention, I turned to the Hokage and said, "We'll help out with shopping."

At the very least it sounded like the easiest one available. And as necessary as missions were, these low level ones basically amounted to chores and I didn't want to waste a lot of time on them.

The Hokage nodded. "Very well." He said as he marked something down on a paper in front of him. "Squad Seven accepts the mission to help the chief councilor's wife with the shopping." He held out the mission scroll and looked at us expectantly.

I glanced at the rest of my team to see if any of them would accept it. Surely Kakashi-sensei at the very least…? He didn't even raise his head, opting to turn a page in his book instead.

I shook my head. Real team of go-getters here. I raised my hand and, almost resigned, said, "Here."

I was starting to get a little annoyed at being the only member of my team that was actually willing to take the lead.

Without another word the Hokage tossed the scroll in my direction and I caught it, one handed.

"Alrighty then," Sensei said as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. "Let's get going."

When we got outside Sakura finally lost her composure. "What the heck kind of mission is this?!"

I chuckled a little as I cracked the seal on the scroll and opened it. Despite caring so much about her appearance and what other people thought of her, she wasn't afraid to speak her mind.

"It's a D-rank mission," I told her as I scanned the instructions. "There all basically grunt work. Until we get some experience these are the kinds of missions they'll have us do."

"I couldn't have put it better myself," Kakashi-sensei chimed in. "You've only been out of the Academy for two days. It's going to be a while before you're ready for more advanced missions."

Sakura sighed in defeat. "I know, and it's not like I thought they'd start giving us dangerous missions right off the bat, but I was expecting… I don't know. Something else, I guess."

Sasuke looked indifferent. Now that the surprise had worn off he probably just thought that this was a waste of his time. Still, at least he wasn't complaining.

Following the instructions on the mission scroll, we soon found ourselves at the chief councilor's house. His wife met us at the door, looking pleased to see us. "Squad Seven reporting for shopping duty," I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

She smiled back at us and in short order we found ourselves at the leaf villages shopping district with several different lists. After a few minutes of arguing over what we should buy first, we split up the list into thirds to save time and each went our separate ways. Less than an hour later we regrouped, everything on the list bought and paid for, and made our way back to the chief councilor's house.

After dropping the items off and giving back the leftover change we went back to the Hokage's Tower to report mission complete. Even with travel time included our first mission had taken less than two hours total to complete so we were offered another one.

I nudged Sasuke's arm to get his attention and, voice low so only he would hear me said, "Pick one."

His raised an eyebrow at me. Keeping his own voice low he asked, "Why do I have to pick one?"

I gave him a flat look. "Because I had to pick the last one. It's your turn."

He looked at me for a moment longer and shrugged. Turning to the Hokage he raised his voice and said, "Well take dog walking."

And so it went. After we finished that mission we went back for another, Kakashi-sensei trailing after us the entire time. This time Sakura stepped forward to accept a mission. She ended up choosing babysitting and we spent the afternoon looking after a civilian family's two year old.

After we reported in a success for that mission, Kakashi-sensei dismissed us for the day. I thought about asking Sasuke and Sakura if they wanted to go and get something to eat, but there was such a thing as being too overbearing. We did have plans to spar tomorrow after all.

'Not like I can't go get something myself.' I mused. And besides I might meet up with Naruto again.

With a plan in mind I headed in the direction of Ichiraku Ramen. I wasn't planning on eating there myself. As good as the stuff was I couldn't eat it every day. But it was the most likely place to run into Naruto so it was worth a quick look inside.

Passing by the stand didn't yield any results however. Not too surprising, really. As much as Naruto loved ramen, he couldn't possibly eat it every day any more than I could.

'At the very least it would end up costing him too much money.' I thought, thinking back to the tower of bowls he had standing next to him yesterday.

I shrugged, pushing the thoughts to the back of my head. If Naruto was a no-go then it was off to the barbeque place.

But before I managed to take two steps towards it someone collided with me, almost nocking me off my feet, and grabbed onto my arm. I sighed in resignation not bothering to turn my head. There was only one person who would do this.

"Hi Ino."

"Ryusei!" She said with far too much cheer in her voice. "I haven't seen you since we graduated! How have you been?"

"I'm fine. And it's only been two days."

"A lot can happen in two days. Oh, I know! Why don't I take you out so you can tell me everything that's happened?"

"Maybe another time. I was just on my way home." I wasn't but I would take any excuse to get out of this situation.

"Ah, that's too bad…" I felt her grip on my arm loosen a little and I felt a glimmer of hope. A glimmer that was summarily crushed when her grip tightened a moment later. "I'll walk you home then."

For the first time since she had latched onto me I looked down at her and saw it in her eyes. The reason that she and Sakura were still friends and the very thing I had been trying to ignore for the last few years.

To put it simply, she had a crush on me. I had my very own fangirl.

I looked up into the sky and thought, 'Why me?'

Don't get me wrong it was flattering and sort of cute, but she was _twelve_! Even thinking about it made me feel uncomfortable. If she still felt this way a few years down the line, then maybe. But right now? No, just… no.

"Ino, let go of me."

She just smiled at me and said, "What if I don't want to?"

And to think I used to make fun of Sasuke for having to put up with this.

Without another word I started walking in the direction of the Senju clan compound, hoping I'd be able to ditch Ino somewhere along the way. It wasn't that I particularly disliked Ino it's just that her fangirl tendencies made trying to be her friend a difficult prospect.

I couldn't even have a proper discussion with her because she just agreed with everything I said. I was really hoping that graduating and becoming an official Ninja would help mellow her out a bit. Or at the very least without classes to make sure we saw each other almost every day, that some time apart would help her get over her crush.

As I made my way home with Ino tagging along, she talked my ear off. Every topic from her lazy teammates to how boring D-ranks were to her new training was brought up. I only half listened, making an affirmative sounding grunt every now and then to show I was still paying attention.

Ino actually reminded me a little of Sasuke before the massacre. She seemed perfectly willing to hold up both sides of the conversation so long as I was at least present.

Finally my house came into view and I felt the sudden urge to jump for joy.

Before I could make an excuse and ditch Ino, she raised an arm and started waving. "Hi Senju-san! How have you been?"

I looked in the direction she was waving and saw my mum walking towards us. Taking advantage of Ino's distraction I managed to disentangle myself from her grip.

My mum waved back as she approached. "Just fine Ino-chan, thanks for asking." Stopping a few feet away from us she suddenly turned and pointed at me. "And you! You should have told me you were bringing a friend over!"

I raised my hands in the universal gesture of innocence. "She just walked me home. She's not staying."

Why was she making such a big deal out of this? With how often she got on my case for not having any friends you'd think if I actually did bring one over she'd be happy.

She stared at me for a moment before deflating with a sigh. "I thought you were finally ready to start being a productive member of society. I was ready to start celebrating…"

Oh, that's why. I felt my eyebrow twitch.

I wasn't _that_ bad.

My mom adopted a thinking pose before smiling and clapping her hands together. "I know! Ino-chan, how about you stay over for dinner!"

What did she just say?!

"That would be wonderful Senju-san! Can I really?" She sounded so excited, she reminded me of a puppy.

"Of course Ino-chan. In fact why don't you help me prepare it?"

She glanced in my direction with a wide smile on her face before she turned back to my mum and excitedly said, "That would be great!"

And without another word she bolted inside. My mum turned to me with a smile and said, "She's such a sweet girl. You should invite your friends over more often!"

I gave her a betrayed look and whispered, "Why?"

She smiled at me and patted my shoulder. "Don't worry about it Ryu. You'll thank me for this someday."

'I highly doubt that.' I thought, as she followed Ino into the house.

As they started talking about what they should cook I contemplated sneaking off while they were distracted. But as much as I wanted to escape this situation I knew it would be better in the long run to just grin and bear it. If I tried to circumvent my mother's will, she could be… scary.

Yeah, let's leave it at that.

With a last longing look at escape I slowly trailed after the two of them.

* * *

My alarm clock went off and I just laid there for a minute listening to it, and thought about shutting it off and going back to sleep. Dinner had been taxing, with Ino sitting next to me trying to draw me into a conversation the whole time. And with both my parents there I couldn't just pretend to ignore her like I usually did so I was forced to participate against my will.

And that's not even counting the knowing looks that my parents kept shooting each other, when they thought I wasn't looking. Whatever they thought was going on, I was certain they were coming to the wrong conclusions.

When Ino finally left late into the evening I collapsed into my bed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Dealing with kids was exhausting, and as mature as training to be Ninja had made them, there were times when their age still showed through.

Wanting to go back to sleep but knowing better I reached up to shut the alarm off and forced myself to get up and start getting ready. Less than an hour later I got to the training grounds and started working on changing my chakra's nature. After how hectic last night had been this sort of training where all I had to do was sit and focus was almost cathartic.

I kept on practicing until I felt a pair of familiar chakra signature's approach. Every signature felt different but that didn't mean it wasn't difficult to distinguish between them, especially if they belonged to strangers. Thankfully I'd had years to get used to my teammates signatures, having spent many a class practicing my chakra sensing as opposed to paying attention. And right there, just on the fringes of my range limit, I could feel Sasuke and Sakura approaching.

I crushed the half formed stone in my grip and let the dirt pour through my fingers and fall back to the ground, as I stood up to greet my teammates.

Sakura was focused almost entirely on Sasuke, as usual, so it was the latter that spotted me first.

Raising a hand in greeting I waved at them. "About time you two got here! I was getting bored waiting by myself."

Sakura took the time to wave back but Sasuke on the other hand, actually looked genuinely happy to see me. In fact, he almost looked excited. It was more emotion than I'd seen on his face in a long time.

And considering his usual emotional range was somewhere between 'neutral' and 'brooding' seeing him look so happy was actually kind of disconcerting.

Not even bothering to return my greeting Sasuke smirked at me and asked, "Ready to lose?"

"Ha! In your dreams, Sasuke." I grinned back at him, just as excited for a rematch as he was, especially since we didn't really get a chance to determine a winner yesterday.

Before we got things rolling however, I had to ask Sakura a question.

"What about you Sakura? Ready to join us today?" I doubted the one conversation we'd had was enough to convince her to join, but on the other hand she did say she'd think about it.

So naturally, I was caught off guard by the determined look in her eye. Maybe what I'd told her had sunk in after all?

"I want to join." She started, "But I have a rule I want us all to follow."

Okay, I was starting to get a bad feeling.

She looked between Sasuke and me and said, "No kunai or shuriken, and we limit ourselves to academy level jutsu."

I bit back a groan of frustration. If we did what she was asking us to do then we'd still be sparring but she was missing the whole point of the activity.

I opened my mouth to reply, but she cut me off. "And Ryusei I know what you're going to say. I remember what you told me yesterday and I understand your reasoning. But you need to remember-" she turned to Sasuke and sent him a light glare, a far cry from the one's she usually sent my way. " _Both of you_ need to remember that we're only Genin. It's going to be years before we'll need to know how to fight like that."

Sometimes it was easy to forget that Sakura came from a civilian family. She was smart and knew how to put everything she'd learned in the Academy to use but there were a few fundamental's that she hadn't grasped yet. For instance she still thought of kunai and shuriken as dangerous weapons only meant to be used in life or death situations, or when we were told to use them.

But to me and Sasuke and really any other Ninja born into a clan or Ninja family they were just tools. True, they could be dangerous and needed to be used properly with care and attention, but still they were just tools.

Hell, I can still remember when I had turned three my parents had given me a set of rubber kunai for my birthday. To me they were a part of everyday life that I'd grown accustomed to years ago.

What she was asking us to do, sparring on this level, probably had us taking fewer risks than we had back in the Academy.

"Sakura…" Sasuke sounded annoyed, and looked as though he was about to shoot down Sakura's suggestions. But even if she was being a little naïve about it, Sakura had agreed to spar, which was a step in the right direction and I didn't want to discourage her. Besides, I didn't want to miss a chance for some team bonding for the third day in a row.

"What's wrong Sasuke?" I asked, my tone slightly mocking. "Don't think you can beat me unless you're going all out?"

I was just teasing him a little, but I knew he wouldn't back down. One of the things I'd learned about Sasuke was that he was never one to back down from a challenge. He wasn't the kind of person to rush in without taking stock of a situation and knew when to call it quits if a fight was unwinnable, but if you wanted to rile him up questioning his strength was the way to go.

As I expected he bristled at my words before glancing in Sakura's direction, before he turned back to me. "You really think sparring like little kids is going to be useful?"

Which wasn't a 'no' I noticed. "You already know my reasoning. If we had it my way there'd be no restrictions whatsoever."

A moment later I shrugged. "But it's not like we won't be getting any benefits from this. In fact learning how to spar with restrictions like this could teach us more than if we didn't have them."

He furrowed his brow in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

I noticed that even Sakura was looking a little confused. Happy that she was getting her way, but still confused.

"Knowing how to use Ninja tools, and Jutsu, in combat is important," I explained, "but in a real fight it's just as likely that we'll be separated from them or run out and I doubt our opponents will stop and let us collect them. That means we need to be ready to fight without them just as much as we need to know how to fight with them."

Sasuke looked like he was thinking hard to himself for a moment before he nodded.

"Fair enough." He said.

Sakura looked like she had won a personal victory and cheered. "Alright! So how do you guys wanna do this?"

I smirked a little at her enthusiasm. She was the picture perfect example of a control freak. Willing to put up a fuss like there was no tomorrow, but as soon as she started to get her way it was smooth sailing.

Sasuke was actually the one to answer her. "It's going to be a free for all. We stay in the clearing and anything goes. Anything within the rules that is." He tacked on that last bit after Sakura cleared her throat.

"We're allowed to call a time out whenever we need one." I added after a moment. "And we stop before we exhaust ourselves. We do have a mission to do afterwards."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "You really think we'll have any trouble with them? There pathetic."

"And how fun do you think they'll be if were worn out from sparring?" I countered.

He thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "Fine"

He walked a little ways away from me putting the three of us in a rough triangle, before turning around and falling into his preferred fighting stance. "You two ready?"

I grinned, slamming a fist into my palm. "Oh yeah."

Sakura just nodded before getting ready herself.

Without any signal to speak of we jumped into action.

Sparring this way was interesting. Without combat Jutsu or Ninja tool's my options were much more limited than usual. But so were theirs. Punches and kicks came in at odd angles that I wasn't expecting and more than once two of us would team up to fight whoever was left over only to turn on each other the moment an opportunity presented itself. It was far more chaotic than what I was used to.

We kept at it for nearly an hour until I called for a stop. My chakra levels were at about half what they normally were and I was pretty sure theirs weren't any better. Considering I had the most chakra out of the three of us it was probably safe to say theirs were even lower.

We spent the next little while discussing the spar, critiquing each other's combat forms and strategies. Sakura even went into a little speech in the different fighting dynamics that went into a free for all fight as opposed to one against one fights. I was actually a little surprised by her insight into how they were so different.

Granted her lecture might have been a little more effective if she hadn't kept glancing at Sasuke. She spent way too much time trying to earn his approval. It was a poor outlook for a Ninja and for life in general. It seemed like she needed to spend some time away from Sasuke as much as Ino needed to spend some time away from me. But still, she'd agreed to spar in the first place and had brought up some good points afterwards so I wasn't going to point it out to her. Not today anyway.

Positive reinforcement and all that.

However the best thing to happen was all three of us agreeing to spar more often. Sasuke looked more pleased with the fight than I'd thought he would, considering how I'd had to cajole him into it, and Sakura was happy to participate so long as we kept things safe.

Yes! Part one of plan 'keep Team Seven from falling apart' had been achieved. Now to think up part two.

It was right around then that Kakashi-sensei showed up, book in hand and smile on his face. "Good morning everyone! Sorry I'm late but a spider kept me trapped in the bathroom and I had to wait until it crawled away to get ready."

There was a half seconds pause before both Sakura and I shouted 'LIAR!' but our hearts weren't really into it. Not only were we getting used to our sensei's horrible excuses but we were still in high spirits from how the spar had gone and didn't want to ruin the mood. Or at least that's how I felt. Sakura could have just been happy from spending so much time talking with Sasuke, for all I knew.

"Alright, then!" Kakashi-sensei said, with far too much enthusiasm. "Ready for more D-ranks?"

* * *

And that was how our first week as Genin went. I'd wake up early to train and when Sasuke and Sakura showed up we would spar. Sasuke still occasionally grumbled a bit about holding back but didn't make an issue out of it. After sparring we'd either dissect each other's performances during the spar to try and think up new strategies, or we'd drift apart and rest until Kakashi-sensei showed up. After that it was D-ranks until he dismissed us and we'd part ways for the day.

The only real difference in our day to day routine was the different kinds of missions we accepted. Sometimes we'd do several in a single day and sometimes only one or two depending on how long the mission we'd chosen ended up taking.

There were plenty of D-rank missions available but there was only so much variety that could be worked into them. Consequently we ended up doing the same mission's several times in that first week. With the notable exception of tracking down Tora the cat. After the first time Sasuke picked that one, we made sure to steer clear of it whenever it cropped up.

After we were dismissed I'd head home to do some more training on my own. Specifically I was continuing to train in chakra nature transformation. Training to change my chakra nature to earth wasn't exactly tiring, just time consuming. But I was optimistic that I'd see results faster than when I'd learned water transformation. When my parents first began teaching me to change my chakra's nature to water they had eased me into it, only letting me train for short periods of time before stopping me, and only a few times a week.

Maybe they were just being careful or maybe they had another reason. It didn't matter overmuch to me because I trusted their judgment. But regardless, compared to the first time I was getting in much more training, much faster. And I could see the results. Every day the exercise felt a little easier and every time I stopped, the stone I was trying to form was a little sturdier.

It was on the following Monday, two weeks after graduation that our schedule changed. We turned up bright and early at the mission's desk (or at least Kakashi-sensei's version of bright and early, so just before noon) and got a surprise announcement from the Hokage.

"Squad Seven has been quite productive." The Hokage said, looking us over. "What do you say, Kakashi? Are they ready to tackle a C-rank mission?"

My eye's widened in surprise and I heard both Sasuke and Sakura perk up at the Hokage's words.

'A C-rank mission?' I thought. 'Already?'

As one the three of us turned to Kakashi-sensei to see what his response would be.

His visible eye crinkled in the way that let us know he was smiling. "We'll I don't know… maybe a few more weeks of D-ranks will help build their character."

Before that moment I'd never seen an expression change from hopeful to horrified quite as fast as Sakura managed to pull off. And for a split second I was certain I felt Sasuke's chakra spike with killer intent.

"But on the other hand, they have been working quite diligently." Kakashi-sensei continued. "I think their up to the challenge."

My teammate's relief at his words was almost palpable.

Well this was a little surprising. To be honest, without Naruto on the team to demand one I'd thought it would take a lot longer for us be offered a C-rank. But in the end, it's not like it really mattered. I was sure the three of us could handle whatever they threw at us.

The Hokage nodded, a pleased look on his face. "Very well then, if you're sure there up for it." He moved a couple papers around on his desk before picking one up. "This should do. Squad Seven is assigned as bodyguards on a journey to the Land of Waves."

…

Oh, you have got to be kidding me.

* * *

 **AN: I am tentatively starting to use honorifics. I was originally planning to only use things that appeared in the English Dub of the show because I've always found that using Japanese terms in an English story to be annoying. I've tried using them before and they've always bugged me. There kind of like inside jokes. Great for the people who get it and bad for everyone else.**

 **But that being said, phrases like Mr. and Mrs. Senju just don't feel like they belong in Naruto. So there not going to be everywhere, but I will be using honorifics in certain situations from here on out.**


End file.
